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Arua City Speaker Yako Teddy Gloria pleaded for revisit of the decision. By Dramadri Federick Arua City The Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development has suspended Arua City from accessing government-funded livelihood programmes after the City failed t
Arua City Speaker Yako Teddy Gloria pleaded for revisit of the decision.
By Dramadri Federick
Arua City
The Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development has suspended Arua City from accessing government-funded livelihood programmes after the City failed to account for and recover over 3 billion shillings disbursed to youth and women beneficiary groups over the last ten years.
The suspension affects funding under the Youth Livelihood Programme (YLP) and the Uganda Women Entrepreneurship Programme (UWEP), two government initiatives established to reduce unemployment, improve household incomes, and support youth and women to establish income-generating enterprises through revolving funds.
According to records from the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, Arua City has received UGX 2.736 billion under the Youth Livelihood Programme since the programmes were introduced in the 2015/2016 financial year. The money was used to finance 330 youth projects across the area now comprising Arua City.
However, ministry records indicate that only 10 of the funded youth groups are still active, with the majority having either collapsed or ceased operations.
The Ministry also disbursed UGX 447.228 million under the Uganda Women Entrepreneurship Programme to support 75 women groups undertaking various income-generating activities.
Despite the combined investment of more than UGX 3.18 billion, recovery of the revolving funds has remained extremely poor. Ministry records show that only UGX 9 million has been recovered under the Youth Livelihood Programme, while only UGX 21 million has been recovered under the Uganda Women Entrepreneurship Programme over the past decade.
The poor recovery prompted the Ministry to suspend Arua City from accessing any additional livelihood programme funds.
Speaking during a stakeholders’ meeting in Arua City, John Engabi, the Northern Cluster One Coordinator for the Livelihood Programmes at the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, said the suspension took effect during the 2025/2026 financial year after the City failed to meet recovery and accountability requirements for two consecutive years.
Engabi explained that the Ministry had observed persistent failure by the City to recover funds from beneficiaries and remit the recovered money to the designated government recovery account.
He said the suspension will remain in force until Arua City demonstrates satisfactory recovery of the outstanding funds.
“Arua City has been suspended by the centre from receiving more funds for the Youth Livelihood Programme and the Uganda Women Entrepreneurship Programme. The suspension followed two consecutive years of failing to recover funds and remit collections to the recovery account,” Engabi said.
He added that until the City recovers the outstanding UGX 3.153 billion, it will neither receive operational facilitation nor fresh funding under the two programmes.
According to Engabi, the suspension is intended to enforce accountability and protect public resources by ensuring local governments strengthen recovery mechanisms before additional government funds are released.
John Engabi, the Northern Cluster One Coordinator for the Livelihood Programmes at the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development speak during the stakeholders meeting at Arua city’s Engineering Yard.
The City Focal Person for the livelihood programmes, Jimmy Droma, attributed the poor recovery to the collapse of many beneficiary groups and alleged mismanagement of project funds by some group leaders.
He said several group leaders disappeared after receiving government funds, making it difficult for authorities to trace them and recover the money.
Droma also noted that administrative changes following the creation of Arua City complicated monitoring and recovery efforts.
Before attaining city status, several beneficiary groups were located in the former Ayivu County, whose seven sub-counties were later incorporated into the City. He said the expanded administrative area has made follow-up and monitoring more difficult.
“Because of this mismanagement of funds, no group has received funding throughout the last financial year. Many women and youth have been punished because of the non-compliance,” Droma said.
He appealed to local leaders, technical officers and community members to support recovery efforts so that eligible youth and women groups can once again benefit from government livelihood interventions.
Despite several appeals by the city speaker Yako Teddy Gloria to seek for a revision of the decision, citing errors arising from the creation of other local governments such as Terego and Arua districts the ministry officials retaliated that the funds have disappeared for more than 10 years and that there would be no sympathy
The Secretary for Social Services at Arua City Council, Ayaba Joseph, described the suspension as a serious setback for socio-economic development, saying it denies many deserving youth and women access to government financing.
Ayaba acknowledged that the City’s poor recovery performance had damaged its credibility with the Ministry and called for urgent measures to recover the outstanding funds.
“This statement from the coordinator that Arua City has been suspended for non-compliance pains me. We need to strengthen recovery so that we can start receiving funds from the centre again,” Ayaba said.
He urged technical staff, political leaders, parish leaders and local communities to work together in identifying beneficiaries who have defaulted and ensure the revolving funds are recovered.
Arua City has now become the first local government in Uganda to be suspended from benefiting under both the Youth Livelihood Programme (YLP) and the Uganda Women Entrepreneurship Programme (UWEP) since the programmes were introduced in the 2015/2016 financial year.
The suspension means that no new youth or women groups in the City will receive government livelihood funding until the outstanding money is recovered and the Ministry is satisfied that adequate accountability mechanisms have been restored.
Officials hope improved recovery efforts will eventually lead to the lifting of the suspension and restore Arua City’s eligibility to benefit from future government livelihood programmes aimed at empowering youth and women through enterprise development.