Kamwenge, Bundibugyo top graft list in Rwenzori
What you need to know:
- The Kamwenge District chairperson, Mr Aggrey Natuhamya, said: “We are part of RAC, we identified these cases together and forwarded them to police for further investigations”
- The Bundibugyo District chairperson, Mr Ronald Mutegeki, said: “When Fr Lokodo was here in September, I told him that to fight corruption, he must move with his technical team but not relying on the district technical staff to investigate their fellow staff.”
A report by the Rwenzori Anti-Corruption Coalition (RAC) has revealed that Kamwenge and Bundibugyo districts top Rwenzori Sub-region in corruption cases involving alleged misappropriation of public funds meant for service delivery.
Of the 1,380 cases of corruption reported and investigated by RAC between January and September, Kamwenge District topped with 335 cases followed by Bundibugyo District with 323.
Rwenzori Sub-region comprises nine districts. The RAC report released last week indicates that Shs4.4 billion was found misappropriated in all the cases reported in the region.
For the 335 cases reported in Kamwenge, funds worth Shs1.2 billion were not accounted for.
Kamwenge and Bundibugyo were followed by Kyenjojo, Kasese, Kabarole, Ntoroko, Bunyangabu and Kyegegwa districts.
The sectors investigated included health, education, production, natural resources, works and administration, to which money disbursed to extend service delivery to the grassroots was misappropriated.
The report further indicates that out of 632 cases reported between July and September, only 149 cases were handled and Shs157.4 million recovered.
In Kamwenge, of the 255 corruption cases reported between July and September, Shs500m was allegedly misappropriated while only Shs45m has been recovered out of six cases.
In Ntoroko, of the 57 cases that were reported since January, Shs255m was allegedly misappropriated.
In Kasese District, 38 cases were reported with Shs70m allegedly misappropriated while in Bunyangabu, of the 29 cases reported, Shs240m was allegedly misappropriated.
In September, the State Minister for Ethics and Integrity, Fr Simon Lokodo, together with the Inter-Agency Forum to fight graft visited Kabarole, Bundibugyo, Ntoroko districts and Fort Portal Municipality and they expressed concern over reported corruption incidents.
Inter-Agency Forum include organs such as State House Anti-Corruption Unit, Inspectorate of Government, Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority, Directorate of Public Prosecutions and the Police Force. It is headed by Fr Lokodo.
Mr Julius Twinomujuni, the head of department of police local government fraud, said in September, 16 cases were reported in the districts of Bundibugyo, Kabarole , Ntoroko and Fort Portal municipality and only 12 cases have been investigated.
Mr Twinomujuni said by September, Bundibugyo was leading with seven cases and of these, five were investigated and submitted to the Regional State Attorney while other two cases are still being investigated. Ntoroko District had three cases while Fort Portal Municipality had seven cases.
The Rwenzori regional officer-in-charge of criminal investigations, Mr Suleiman Kabuye, said some cases take long to be investigated because witnesses give flimsy explanations at police.
