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District chiefs clash over sale of impounded charcoal
The Gulu District chairperson, Mr Martin Ojara Mapenduzi
What you need to know:
- The assistant chief administrative officer, Mr Philip Opolot, denied knowledge of the charcoal auctioning and noted that his office will carry out an investigation into the matter.
Gulu. The Gulu District chairperson, Mr Martin Ojara Mapenduzi, on Tuesday called off the auctioning of impounded charcoal from illegal dealers over corruption allegation by some of the district leaders.
Local government officials accompanied by the police over the weekend conducted operations and impounded more than 500 bags of charcoal from illegal charcoal dealers in Palaro Sub-county in a move to curb rampant tree cutting.
The operation followed a joint committee resolutions passed in a meeting held on Friday last week.
The officials who later offloaded the impounded charcoal at Boma grounds in Gulu Municipality started auctioning the charcoal to locals in a bid to raise revenue from the illegal forest products with each bag of charcoal being sold at Shs15,000.
Auctioning of the charcoal was spearheaded by the assistant chief administrative officer for Aswa County, Mr Tom Orik Oryem, while the Gulu District police commander, Mr Emmanuel Mufundo, oversaw the process.
The process, however, met stiff resistance from environmental activists led by Mr John Bosco Uhuru, a section of locals and charcoal dealers, who accused Mr Orik and police for auctioning the charcoal to the same people from whom it was impounded.
According to Mr Uhuru, about four trucks fully loaded with charcoal that was impounded in the operation were released under the watchful eyes of the police back to the illegal dealers on Sunday night.
“The police are not trusted, they are pretending to be guarding the impounded charcoal yet in actual sense they are again selling it back to the perpetrators. We demand that they be held accountable,” Mr Uhuru told Mr Mapenduzi in an impromptu meeting.
No receipts
He also alleged that Mr Orik, who was overseeing auctioning of the charcoal, received money from people who wanted to buy the charcoal but later fled without issuing receipts allowing them to pick their charcoal.
Ms Grace Aven Mugerwa, another resident who alleged that she paid for five bags of charcoal to Mr Orik, said she has not been able to pick the charcoal because he [Mr Orik] did not give her receipts.
“Up to now, I can’t pick my charcoal because the receipt was taken away by Mr Orik, he is nowhere to be seen,” Ms Mugerwa said.
Ms Janet Akot, 30, a charcoal dealer from Minakulu Sub-county in Oyam District, said the officials impounded 160 bags of charcoal from her despite paying Shs750,000 for movement to forestry department.
Ms Akot said despite an order issued by the Resident District Commissioner, Cpt Santos Okot Lapolo, local government officials headed by Mr Orik refused to give her back the charcoal saying it was going to be auctioned.
“I made the payment for the movement permit at Orient Bank Gulu Branch to which the district forestry office has a copy of the receipt, I am wondering why [Mr] Orik and the police have refused to clear the charcoal. I am frustrated because I got a loan to engage in this business for the first time,” she said.
But Mr Mapenduzi, while addressing the aggrieved traders at Boma grounds, said although auctioning of the charcoal is legal, the processes undertaken to have the charcoal auctioned had several loopholes.
Mr Orik denied the allegations saying the process of auctioning the charcoal was properly followed.
“When conducting such auctioning, local government procedures are followed, we inform the public through radio announcements, and after the sales, the cash is handed over to finance department. These processes are all audited transparently, it is a lie that some people are saying it was marred with fraud,” Mr Orik said, adding: “There was too much politicking that happened during the auctioning, that is what marred the process. However, if someone is dissatisfied, let them wait for the audit to show how much was raised and the amount of money refunded to those who had already paid for the charcoal.”
The assistant chief administrative officer, Mr Philip Opolot, denied knowledge of the charcoal auctioning and noted that his office will carry out an investigation into the matter.
Mid this month, The Gulu District forestry officer, Mr James Ocaka, was interdicted over allegations of issuing counterfeit receipts to illegal timber and charcoal dealers.
