Butaleja LCV Chairperson Elvis Were Halts Recruitment Exercise Over Corruption Allegations.
By Ambrose Wanagoli.
The Butaleja District Local Council Five (LCV) Chairperson, Elvis Weere, has suspended the ongoing recruitment exercise for district jobs until Monday, citing alleged irregularities and corruption in the process.
Speaking during a meeting attended by members of the District Executive Committee and the District Service Commission on Friday, Weere accused the commission of conniving with former Butaleja LCV Chairperson, Michael Higenyi Bore, to have influenced and sold jobs contrary to his administration’s policy of merit-based recruitment.
Weere expressed concern over reports that Bore had visited the offices of the District Service Commission despite no longer holding office.
He questioned the legality and intent of the former chairperson’s presence at the commission offices, saying confidentiality in recruitment processes must be protected.
“Imagine Bore never officially handed over office to me, but instead did so through his driver. What business does he still have with the Service Commission under my leadership?” Weere wondered.
He further alleged that Bore, accompanied by his associates, including Mohammed Gusaga, was seen celebrating after leaving the commission offices.
The Butaleja District Speaker, Bashir Mugoya, also accused Mohammed Gusaga, an NRM mobiliser in the district, of extorting money from job applicants on behalf of the Service Commission. However, the Chairperson of the District Service Commission, Phillip Kalyebi, denied the allegations.
Kalyebi said he respected Weere’s decision to suspend the recruitment exercise but admitted that former Chairperson Bore briefly visited his office after being ushered in by the commission secretary, Robert Walukhana.
He pledged to uphold impartiality and professionalism in the commission’s work and vowed to fight corruption tendencies within the recruitment process.
On his part, Robert Walukhana, the Secretary to the District Service Commission, suggested that the recruitment exercise be postponed until the next financial year.
He acknowledged introducing Bore to the commission chairperson but explained that the former district leader had only stopped by to greet them after visiting the Lands Office.
Efforts to obtain a comment from former District Chairperson Michael Higenyi Bore were unsuccessful, as he did not answer repeated phone calls by press time.
The suspension comes amid growing concerns over alleged irregularities in the district recruitment process. Recently, a section of councillors petitioned against the recruitment exercise, although the High Court dismissed their petition in early May, allowing the exercise to proceed
