District evaluates cattle restocking programme

EASTERN PROVINCE NGOMA — District leaders today launch an inspection to assess the progress of the government cattle stocking programme of One Cow per Family, commonly known as ‘Girinka’ in the district. Charles Ntageruka, the deputy Mayor in-charge of Finance and Economic development, revealed this in an interview with The New Times yesterday. He disclosed that the assessment exercise was prompted by recent reports that implicated some sector leaders in mismanagement of funds meant for the cattle re-stocking programme. Four sector executive secretaries were last week arrested for allegedly swindling funds meant for poverty eradication programmes locally known as ‘Ubudehe’ which is part of Girinka. “We want to hear the views of the beneficiaries and assess the impact of this programme,” Ntageruka said. “We believe there may be other problems being encountered by residents and we thought going down in villages would help us establish them and get immediate solutions.” The New Times has established that there are some individuals who received Frisian cows but they cannot afford to look after them. Such residents have opted to exchange the cows with local cow breeds. This, Ntageruka said is among the things they want to ascertain and ensure that the rotational programme of transferring the calves to other beneficiaries is effectively done. Since the launch of the cattle re-stocking programme in late 2007, Ngoma District has received over 1000 cows from various Non Governmental Organisations. Ends