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Budaka officials on the spot over selling jobs
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The district youth chairperson, Mr Afani Kafero, said the level of extortion from job seekers in the district has turned out to be a “chronic “disease.
Residents of Budaka in Bukedi Sub-region have accused district leaders of extorting money from several job applicants.
This follows the arrest of Mr George Mukamba, the Budaka Sub-county district councillor, on allegations of obtaining money from job seekers.
North Bukedi regional police spokesperson Samuel Semewo told Monitor that one Sulaiman Kibubula, a teacher by profession, reported a case, accusing Mr Mukamba of extorting Shs4 million from him to influence his promotion to the position of head teacher.
“Mr Kibubula claims to have given Mr Mukamba Shs4m in 2022 as a fee he required to work on his promotion to the position of head teacher, which never happened,” he said.
Mr Semewo said police preliminary investigations indicate that Mr Mukamba had been using his position as a district councillor as well as being the secretary for health and education to obtain money from people seeking employment in the district.
“As police, we have been gathering evidence and preparing a file for Mukamba to be arrested, we learned that Mr Mukamba was also being accused of obtaining Shs5m from a woman [names withheld] after promising her a medical job in Budaka District,” he said.
Investigations by this publication indicate that some of the applicants seeking to be recruited into the service under the government have to part away with money before being considered for recruitment in the Budaka district local government.
Monitor understands that in an advert placed in the New Vision newspaper on May 12, 2022, calling for competent people to apply attracted a good turn-up of applicants and many were asked for varying amounts of money.
The district youth chairperson, Mr Afani Kafero, said the level of extortion from job seekers in the district has turned out to be a “chronic “disease.
Mr Kafero demanded that the anti-corruption agencies such as IGG and the State House Anti-corruption Unit should pick interest and investigate the allegations.
The Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), Mr Elly Piwanga, appealed to the victims of extortion to always report to police. “We urge people to always report such people who go asking people [job applicants] for money because it’s not allowed. People are supposed to get jobs on merit,” he said.
