Lira district local government has denied receipt of Shs 665 million to construct Akii-Bua stadium. Lira chief administrative officer Mark Tivu said that the district only received about Shs 300 million which was meant to execute preliminary works on Akii Bua stadium.
Tivu says that the money was used for bush clearing of the 12-acre site, which involved uprooting trees and levelling of the land, opening boundaries, opening access roads, draining the swamp, construction of a pit latrine and the 200-seater pavilion that exists on the site today.
He added that a huge part of the money was used to compensate residents who had been occupying the land where the new stadium is being built. According to Tivu, no money was lost and all the received funds can be accounted for.
Tivu says that the money was used for bush clearing of the 12-acre site, which involved uprooting trees and levelling of the land, opening boundaries, opening access roads, draining the swamp, construction of a pit latrine and the 200-seater pavilion that exists on the site today.
He added that a huge part of the money was used to compensate residents who had been occupying the land where the new stadium is being built. According to Tivu, no money was lost and all the received funds can be accounted for.
The explanation comes a day after the arrest of Lamex Omara, the commissioner physical education under the Education and Sports ministry over misallocation of Shs 665 million meant for the construction of the Akii-Bua stadium.
Omara had appeared before the MPs with a team of officials from the ministry of Education and the National Council of Sports to responds to complaints from legislators from Lango region about the alleged mismanagement of funds allocated for the construction of the stadium.
Commissioner Omara defended himself, saying Lira district local government which did the work, should be held accountable. But Tivu trashed the claim, saying they did what they did within the available funds.
Omara had appeared before the MPs with a team of officials from the ministry of Education and the National Council of Sports to responds to complaints from legislators from Lango region about the alleged mismanagement of funds allocated for the construction of the stadium.
Commissioner Omara defended himself, saying Lira district local government which did the work, should be held accountable. But Tivu trashed the claim, saying they did what they did within the available funds.
Alex Oremo Alot, the Lira district LCV chairperson maintained there was value for money in the project which has been described shoddily constructed. Dickens Okello, a resident of Erute village where the stadium is being constructed urged for proper investigations to ascertain possible connivance between Lira district local government and the ministry of Education and Sports.
Okello says there was no value for money so far on the project. In 2008, President Museveni pledged to build a modern stadium in memory of the late John Akii-Bua, Uganda's first Olympic gold medalist.
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