Bunagana: Councilors point fingers at district after losing Millions in Revenue Collection

By VOM News Team

The duly elected leaders of Bunagana Town Council have unanimously agreed to write, petitioning Kisoro District Local Government, demanding for their right to manage all resources without any direct or indirect interference.

The leaders of Bunagana Town Council agreed to engage the District LCV chairperson Abel Bizimana and the Chief Administrative Officer Hajji Mayanja Badru to find a way of halting some individuals who are selfishly benefitting from the resources of Bunagana at the expense of the people.

While passing and approving the Budget estimates for the Financial Year 2023 -2024 amounting to 152,637,480 Ugandan Shillings, Councilors decried the poor performance of the town council in terms of service delivery caused by low revenue collection.

While presenting the report from the Finance Committee, John Semahore, the chairperson of the Finance Committee said revenue collection in the financial year 2022-2023 was very poor.

Semahore said this can be attributed to the border closure with the Democratic Republic of Congo as a result of Political instability as well as pandemic diseases such as Corona Virus and Ebola.

The report revealed that as of 30^th April, 2023, Local Hotel tax has been completely evaded by hotel owners who claim they have not made any money since the refugee influx last year.

A total of 34 Million Shillings had been budgeted for, under Markets and Gate fees at Bunagana and Kadihiro, however only 17 Million Shillings had been remitted to the town council as of 30^th April 2023.

Vehicle parking fees that include Loading and Offloading was severely affected following the border closure.

The town council had planned to collect 45, 500,000 Ugandan shillings but only managed to secure 3, 075,000 Ugandan shillings.

The report also mentions that Kisoro District Local Government planned and allocated land in Bunagana Town Council to DOTT Services Limited and Uganda Investment Authority without involving the Stakeholders in Bunagana.

According to Semahore, the district leadership recently generated revenue amounting to 100 Million Shillings from the erroneous allocation of land in Kibaya to DOTT Services.

“The revenue should have come to the town council to facilitate its development because revenue generated from Sub Counties is share between lower Local Government and the district, a right that was neglected by the same district that approved the elevation of Bunagana Town into a Town Council”, Semahore explained.

Establishment of Bunagana Town Council

A letter dated October 5^th, 2017, written to the Kisoro District LCV chairperson Abel Bizimana from Minister of Local Government (then) Tom R. Butime states that two new Town Councils; Bunagana Town Council and Cyanika Town Council, under Section 7(3) of the Local Government Act (Cap243) were to be operationalized.

The guidelines, under section 5, clearly state that, “On becoming a Town Council, All Assets i.e., Land and Buildings owned by the Sub County that are within the area of Jurisdiction of the New Town Council become assets of the Town”.

This excludes land and Buildings that are owned by the district.

Paragraph (II) states that all Revenue sources that were managed and collected by the Sub County become Revenue sources of the New Town Council. These include Markets, Parks, Trading Businesses, Licenses, permits, Royalties among others.

Bunagana Town Council Mayor Ismail Ndyambaje says it is so heartbreaking to find that, out of 152 Million budgeted for this financial year, only 55,946,716 was what was realized.

Ndyambaje says he wrote to the District LCV chairperson Abel Bizimana on the 4^th of November 2022, seeking an explanation as to why the rights to own land and manage revenue as a town council were trampled on.

“He has never communicated back to me, either by formal communication or word of mouth, in fact when I call his known telephone number, he refuses to pick my phone calls”, Ndyambaje said.

Bunagana Town Council LCV Councilor Innocent Kwizera pointed said the district leadership needs to make a pronouncement on the matter because the people of Bunagana who have been facing hardships are further being deprived of essential services due to lack of funds.

Kwizera further said the Maziba Demonstration Farm, which is being managed by the National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) does not belong to the District because the land is not titled however the district is seeking to tender it out at 1.8 Million Shillings, with little to no consideration for the people of Bunagana.

Emmanuel Mbonye, Town Clerk for Bunagana Town Council said, the technical team of the town council has written to the relevant offices to seek more information however it is the Political class that can use their positions and influence to get accountability and ensure losses to the Town Council are averted.