With a US$ 15m Covid
relief kitty ready for rollout in Uganda by GiveDirectly, an American
based International NGO, the donors had hoped to bring a huge level of
relief and joy to many low-wage workers and needy Ugandans whose
livelihoods have been battered by the Covid induced lockdown announced
in March 2020.
But without warning, government suddenly blocked the
rollout of the US$15m kitty, trapping the would-be beneficiaries
between grief, anger and frustration.
GiveDirectly has been operational in the country
since 2013 providing direct cash handouts to needy Ugandans but was
ordered to indefinitely suspend its operations in a September 9, 2020
letter written by the interim executive director of the National Bureau
for NGOs, Stephen Okello.
Okello claimed that an investigation had
found that GiveDirectly’s cash handouts were likely to make Ugandans
lazy, promote idleness, domestic violence, dependency syndrome and
tension within neighbouring villages. Okello also cast doubt on the
source of GiveDirectly’s cash.
Interviewed, Michael Kayemba, the country director
of GiveDirectly, said before he received Okello’s letter, his NGO was
not aware of any investigation. He said he was shocked to learn about a
completed security investigation yet the NGO officials had not been
summoned by the Bureau to be heard despite holding their last meeting
with the Bureau on August 28, 2020.
The suspension of GiveDirectly’s operations dashes hopes of a cash relief for the targeted 190,000 recipients.
According to Kayemba, 48,000 individuals have been
enrolled and 22,000 had already received at least the first batch of
their monthly Shs 100,000 cash handout. About 29,000 people recently
enrolled and are expecting their first transfer. Lira had 40,000
enrollees, Mbale, 29,000, Gulu 16,000, Moroto, 5,000, Mbarara 38,000,
Kabale 10,000.
This kitty is funded by USAID, a US federal agency
responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development
assistance, while the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office
formerly DFID is funding 55,000 enrollees in Kampala (Kamwokya, Kisenyi,
Bwaise, Katanga, Naguru-Katale, Ndeeba-Kabowa, Katwe, Kyebando and
Kasubi).
Though the NGO Bureau claims the source of
GiveDirectly’s funds is unknown, documents and approvals signed between
different government entities including ministry of Finance, Local
governments, ministry of Local Government, Kampala Capital City
Authority show government officials were fully in the know.
A local getting enrolled for the cash handouts
The Permanent Secretary ministry of Finance Keith
Muhakanizi in a letter dated July 7, 2020 to the USAID Mission director
said; ”reference is made to our meeting held today, 7th July 2020 to
discuss the above proposed program in collaboration with the Ministry of
Local Government and the Ministry of Kampala.
During this meeting you noted that, this Program is
part of your COVID-19 Economic Response strategy. This is to confirm
that my minister has no-objection to this program and therefore
implementation of the same can commence.”
An MOU set to expire on December 31, 2020, is
titled: Cash relief for COVID-19: Providing a Lifeline for low-income
Households in Kampala Capital City and selected districts signed between
GiveDirectly and Minister of Kampala and Metropolitan Affairs Betty
Amongi and Minister of Local Government Raphael Magyezi on April 17,
2020.
The minister of state for Kampala Metropolitan
Affairs Benny Namugwanya and minister of General Duties Mary Karooro
Okurut signed off as witnesses. Under the MOU, KCCA was to nominate
three technical representatives to the project, provide guidance and
technical assistance on targeting criteria, assist GiveDirectly to
ensure that as many needy people as possible are reached, facilitate the
NGO to obtain beneficiary data including phone numbers, National IDs
from the telecoms and other government agencies.
The MOU justified the cash grants as support for the needy deprived by the coronavirus lockdown.
“As His Excellency President Museveni noted in
several Covid-19 addresses, many Ugandans live hand-to-mouth without any
savings to cover a period with no income…these necessary public health
measures are going to cause severe economic and livelihood hardships.
These impacts are felt across Uganda, although particularly acute in
urban informal settlements where residents are renters, don’t grow their
own food and overwhelmingly likely to be employed in the informal
sector.”
Each adult was to receive $25 (about Shs 100,000)
per month to cover both food and other essential non-food items.
Beneficiaries facing eviction would get $50 (about Shs 200,000). The
cash offer was meant to run for a period of three months.
In his address on March 18, 2020, President Museveni
placed the country under a partial lockdown by closing all Educational
Institutions, suspending communal prayers in Mosques, Churches or in
Stadia and other open air venues. He also closed all discos, dances,
bars, sports, music shows, cinemas and concerts were all suspended etc.
The lockdown squeezed the livelihoods of many.
Ministers; Magyezi, Amongi and PS Muhakinizi
couldn’t be reached for an interview. None picked their known cellphone
numbers by press time.
But Francis Anguria, the LC-1 chairman of a
beneficiary village; Okobwa village, Okobwa parish, Bukedea district,
said GiveDirectly went to his home area in January 2020. He said people
who got cash were able to send children to school, build houses and
improve their livelihood.
Anguria was not aware the program had been blocked by government. He disputed the government claim that such handouts make people lazy.
“…Take for instance those who built houses, that
money was not even enough because to build a simple house you need like
Shs 5m and what GiveDirectly gave was less than that money, which means
that people worked for the remaining money,” Anguria told The Observer
on Monday.
”Me as an individual I did not get, but I know for a
fact that between 250-300 people got the money. The first installment
was Shs 1.7 million per person and the second installment was Shs 1.62
million,” Anguria said of the poverty alleviation project.
Walter Ocitti, the LC I chairman of Kanyogoga in
Gulu, said government ”was just jealous” and wondered why they blocked
individuals providing money to their vulnerable people yet they failed
to provide the needed relief during the trying times of the Covid-19
lockdown.
Kayemba wondered why ministers including Magyezi
hailed the grant initially as an important relief for vulnerable
Ugandans in the newly created cities if they doubted the source of the
money.
It seems the state had been itching to close in on
GiveDirectly because in a letter dated, June 22, 2020, Okello referred
to the June 4, 2020 meeting in which a number of issues were discussed
including cash grants, beneficiaries, funders, operational districts,
annual returns and MOUs with different stakeholders.
“The Bureau acknowledges the documents so far
shared, however, for further clarity about your organization, the Bureau
is requesting for additional information”.
This included the incorporation certificate in US,
details of officers in the US, certificate of good conduct of the
founders, details of all the beneficiaries per district and per project
and their phone numbers, details of the physical address in the US, list
of all local and foreign staff including their salaries and NSSF, MOUs
with telecom companies that remit the money.
According to Kayemba, GiveDirectlu has already
transferred over $40m in unconditional direct cash to more than 50,000
households in Uganda targeting coffee farmers to promote productivity,
refugees and other vulnerable communities in Lamwo, Kyegegwa, Iganga,
Bukedea, Kiryandongo and Kampala.
The GiveDirectly cash is sent directly on the beneficiaries phone eliminating middlemen that so often fleece people.