Gen. Aronda’s aide flees with Shs100m
A soldier attached to the office of Chief of Defence Forces, Gen. Aronda Nyakairima (L) has reportedly made off with Shs100 million from the UPDF coffers.
What you need to know:
This is the third incident in barely three months in which huge sums of taxpayers’ money has gone missing at high security military installations.
An army-led manhunt is on for a soldier attached to the office of Chief of Defence Forces, Gen. Aronda Nyakairima, after Shs100 million meant for operational expenses is believed to have been stolen.
Military sources say army intelligence has been deployed to hunt down one Cpl. Fred Asingwire has been working as the pay clerk in the office of the army chief but is now reportedly missing from his duty station.
This is the third incident in barely three months in which huge sums of taxpayers’ money has gone missing under the noses of staff at what are expected to be high security military installations.
Daily Monitor has been told by the sources that the money was picked from the Ministry Defence headquarters in Mbuya. Available information suggests that the individual who reportedly picked the money claimed to be taking it to Gen. Nyakairima’s Kampala office in Kololo. After getting out of the ministry gates, the individual reportedly disappeared and the hunt, according to the sources, is on to arrest him.
When the defence permanent secretary, Ms Rosette Byengoma, was contacted yesterday, she referred us to the army spokesperson, Col. Felix Kulayigye, who, however, could not respond because he said he was officiating at the burial of former Army Chief of Staff, Maj. Gen. Sam Nanyumba.
Deputy Police Spokesperson Vicent Ssekatte said he would consult Jinja Road Police Station, under whose geographical area of operational jurisdiction the defence ministry is situated, to find out whether the case had been reported. This had not been confirmed by press time.
In September, presidential guard soldiers attached to the elite Special Forces Group are suspected to have made off with between hundreds of millions to billions of shillings from the Okello House, an annex of State Lodge Nakasero.
