Three Ngora district officials arrested over alleged sh22.4m irrigation fund embezzlement
The arrests followed a fact-finding mission conducted last week by officials from the Ministries of; Finance as well as that of Water and Environment to assess the status of micro-scale irrigation projects implemented in 2023.
LC5 Chairperson James Robert Otim stands at one of the incomplete irrigation projects that led to the arrest of three officials on Monday, July 6. (Courtesy photo)
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Police in Ngora District have arrested and detained three district officials over the alleged embezzlement of sh22.4 million meant for a government-funded micro-scale irrigation project.
The suspects are: Patrick Okiring Omoding, the Senior Agricultural Engineer; Jacob Oluka, the Production Officer; and Richard Esait Okurut, the Senior Procurement Officer.
Ngora District Police Commander Denis Pahani confirmed the arrests to New Vision Online, saying the suspects are being investigated over alleged embezzlement of sh22.4m in the 2022/2023 financial year.
"We have preferred charges of embezzlement involving government funds worth sh22,450,000 for the 2022/2023 financial year. We have detained the suspects as investigations continue," Pahani said.
The inspection team, accompanied by Ngora District leaders led by the district chairperson, James Robert Otim, discovered that the irrigation projects were only about 60 percent complete despite the contractor having been paid the full contract sum of sh47 million.
LC5 Chairperson James Robert Otim, accompanied by other officials, inspects an incomplete irrigation project that led to the arrest of three officers on Monday, July 6. (Courtesy)
Following the inspection, Otim convened a meeting with district technical officers on Monday (July 6) to account for the stalled project and explain why the contractor had received full payment before completing the works.
The contractor, Teso Crop Care, which had been invited to attend the meeting, did not send any representative. "The agricultural engineer (Omoding), who was supposed to invite the contractor, failed to produce him, claiming that his telephone numbers were switched off. It is against that background that they were arrested," Otim said.
The stalled irrigation schemes are located in Ajeluk Village, Ajeluk Parish in Mukura Sub-county, and Puuna Village, Ariet Parish in Morukakise Sub-county. According to district leaders, the projects have remained incomplete for nearly three years.
"Farmers were identified because they had land near reliable water sources and were expected to benefit from vegetable growing to improve their livelihoods. Unfortunately, that has not happened because the projects were never completed," Otim said.
Otim, who assumed the office of district chairersonship in May this year, said uncovering the stalled projects and the alleged misuse of public funds was among the first major challenges his administration has encountered.
"I ordered the arrest of these officers to establish who is responsible for the loss of money that was meant to complete these irrigation systems. We want accountability and value for public funds," he said.
Pahani said the suspects will remain in custody as detectives complete recording statements and compiling the case file before forwarding it to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions for legal guidance.
"They will be arraigned in court once investigations are complete," he said.