The Ntungamo District Commercial Officer, Seth Niwagaba, and the Kibatsi Sub-County Community Development Officer, Isaac Arinaitwe, have been detained on allegations of establishing fictitious Saccos to illegitimately benefit from the Parish Development Model Funds.
These arrests were carried out at the direction of the Deputy National Coordinator of the Parish Development Model, Joveline Kalisa, after receiving complaints from whistleblowers.
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The complaints indicated that eight non-existent Saccos were added to the list of beneficiaries in Rukarango parish, Kibatsi Sub-County.
Due to the rising cases of fraud, forgeries, and theft, Ntungamo district has been placed on the red list.
Adriene Tushabe, the District Lady Councilor of Kibatsi sub-county and Rwamabondo town council, accuses the officers of inserting their names onto the list of beneficiaries, causing frustration among the legitimate fund members.
Tushabe claims that there is information suggesting other community development officers and parish chiefs in the district are collecting money from individuals under the guise of training fees, only to add them later to the list of beneficiaries for PDM funds.
Brigadier General John Tumwebaze, the Ntungamo District Coordinator of Operation Wealth Creation, shares that during the training of Rukarango PDM members, he discovered that many names on the list were unfamiliar to the local residents. Furthermore, the list included individuals from outside Rukarango parish.
Samuel Mucunguzi, the Ntungamo District Chairperson, reveals that some civil servants have been summoned by the rewards and sanctions committee to respond to the complaints against them.
Hannington Bushaija Kanimi, the Ntungamo district police Commander, confirms the arrests of District Commercial Officer Seth Niwagaba and Kibatsi Community Development Officer Isaac Arinaitwe, and states that ongoing investigations are being conducted.
Notably, in the financial year 2021/22, Ntungamo District received 13.8 billion Shillings and has allocated 6 billion Shillings to 129 Parish SACCOs.
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