Yumbe CAO reinstated
Apr 09, 2006
THE High Court on Wednesday reinstated Christopher Agatre Yiiki as the chief administrative officer (CAO) of Yumbe district after two years on interdiction.
,b>By Frank Mugabi
THE High Court on Wednesday reinstated Christopher Agatre Yiiki as the chief administrative officer (CAO) of Yumbe district after two years on interdiction.
Yiiki was interdicted in September 2003 when the Yumbe district chairman Rashid Govule Iyiga effected a recommendation by the Inspector General of Government (IGG) to have him dismissed on allegations of abuse of office.
In a defence filed through his lawyer, Louis Odongo of the Gulu-based Louis Odongo and Company Advocates, Yiiki said Govule insisted on sacking him even though he had been arraigned before the district council and absolved of the allegations in the IGG’s report.
He also told court that he had been unable to commence work because of threats from the district chairman and other councillors. Delivering his 50-page judgment on Wednesday, Arua high court judge Augustus Kania ruled that Yiiki was unlawfully and unconstitutionally interdicted.
He also ruled that the meeting that the chairman convened at Yumbe resource centre to block Yiiki from entering office was illegal and “tantamount to intrigue and malice.â€
Kania said though Yiiki had been forced to resign because of threats he was still the substantive CAO because the appointing authority had not accepted his resignation letter, as stipulated in Chapter 1 of the Standing Orders, 1991 Edition, Volume 1.
He awarded Yiiki sh60m in damages, which will be paid by the district with interest at the court’s rate from April 5.
Kania also directed the district to pay the cost of the suit. however, Yiiki and his lawyer were yet to compile the costs.
The case was first filed at Gulu High Court in 2004 but was sent to Arua following the creation of the Arua high court circuit.
THE High Court on Wednesday reinstated Christopher Agatre Yiiki as the chief administrative officer (CAO) of Yumbe district after two years on interdiction.
Yiiki was interdicted in September 2003 when the Yumbe district chairman Rashid Govule Iyiga effected a recommendation by the Inspector General of Government (IGG) to have him dismissed on allegations of abuse of office.
In a defence filed through his lawyer, Louis Odongo of the Gulu-based Louis Odongo and Company Advocates, Yiiki said Govule insisted on sacking him even though he had been arraigned before the district council and absolved of the allegations in the IGG’s report.
He also told court that he had been unable to commence work because of threats from the district chairman and other councillors. Delivering his 50-page judgment on Wednesday, Arua high court judge Augustus Kania ruled that Yiiki was unlawfully and unconstitutionally interdicted.
He also ruled that the meeting that the chairman convened at Yumbe resource centre to block Yiiki from entering office was illegal and “tantamount to intrigue and malice.â€
Kania said though Yiiki had been forced to resign because of threats he was still the substantive CAO because the appointing authority had not accepted his resignation letter, as stipulated in Chapter 1 of the Standing Orders, 1991 Edition, Volume 1.
He awarded Yiiki sh60m in damages, which will be paid by the district with interest at the court’s rate from April 5.
Kania also directed the district to pay the cost of the suit. however, Yiiki and his lawyer were yet to compile the costs.
The case was first filed at Gulu High Court in 2004 but was sent to Arua following the creation of the Arua high court circuit.