51% of Operation Wealth Creation Beneficiaries Dissatisfied- Survey

Fifty one percent of the people involved in the Operation Wealth Creation-OWC are dissatisfied, a new study by Kabarole Research and Resource Center has revealed.  

The study covered Kabarole, Kyegegwa, Kyenjojo, Kasese, Bundibugyo, Bunyangabu, Kamwenge and Ntoroko districts in Rwenzori region involving 512 households.

The study was meant to establish citizen’s perceptions about their involvement in development initiatives. 

According to the study, majority of the respondents were not consulted on what they were really interested in doing or where they were going to do it.    

All one needed was to buy the registration forms, present a national Identity card and connections to those heading the programme. 

Releasing the findings on Wednesday, Muhammed Ahamed Sharrif, a social researcher and principal investigator on the study, said they selected a rural and urban sub county in each of the districts where respondents would be asked questions in group discussions and individual interviews between January and October.

 

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The respondents were also asked whether they are satisfied with the Youth Livelihood programme and the Women Entrepreneurship programme. 

He said that whereas the responses were quite similar since many beneficiaries said they received funds or supplies, there was never any follow up by authorities as regards implementation.

Only 33% of the respondents were satisfied with the OWC programme with many respondents, saying they were never followed up to monitor progress or receive any agriculture extension workers to offer them advice on how to progress.  

Others, Sharrif said, complained of late delivery of supplies, some of them outside the season, which rendered them useless.       

42 out of the 45 percent of the respondents, who benefited from the For the Youth Livelihood programme, said they were dissatisfied with the programme. 

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Reacting to the findings, Fort Portal Municipality MP and member of the Local Governments Committee in parliament, Alex Ruhunda, said the fact that people who get OWC supplies never get technical advice is a surprise provided that government has been recruiting agriculture extension workers. 

He said recently districts also received motorcycles for extension workers and diaries where they should note their findings in the field. For him, this study should be a wake up call for government to always include a package for training along such programmes.  

For the youth livelihood programme he says already parliament had proposed that there should be a package for training to be used along with the dispersed funds.