District bosses, CAOs cited in OPM fraud

By Claude Emma Omona

The chairman of the Acholi Parliamentary Committee wants Chief Administrative Officers and LC5 chairpersons in districts that have been benefiting from the Peace Recovery and Development Plan for Northern Uganda (PRDP) Funds to be audited.

Speaking during a PRDP review meeting at the Boma Hotel in Gulu, Regan Okumu said most CAOs and district chairpersons in the sub-region were also considered suspects in the financial scandal that has rocked the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) in relation to PRDP funds.

Okumu said there had been reports of corrupt officials at district level in the Acholi sub-region conniving with OPM staff to steal PRDP Funds. He said an audit would help clear the air. The Aswa county MP meanwhile hailed donors for their support which he said was helping the formerly war-torn northern region to recover.

In a related development, LC5 chairpersons from the Lango sub region have written to the President expressing dissatisfaction over the missing PRDP Funds meant for the northern region. Led by Alebtong LC5 boss John Baptist Okello, the district chairmen at the Media Centre in Gulu last week urged President Yoweri Museveni to take action against those found to have misappropriated the PRDP funds.

They also petitioned Parliament to enact a law that would punish those found guilty of embezzling public funds with life imprisonment and their properties sold off to recover the stolen funds. Lira LC 5 chairman, Alex Orema said they were planning to meet the President over their petition.