IGG investigates Soroti City market official over extortion

The Inspector General of Government  (IGG) is investigating Soroti City market leaders over alleged  extortion. 

The IGG instituted the investigations following the arrest of the market vendors chairperson after he allegedly attempted to extort Shs800,000 from Mr Simon Peter Ekwam, a vendor.
Mr Ekwam told Daily Monitor that the suspect demanded the money to allocate him a stall.

“I have all the evidence against the suspects. They wanted Shs3m but when I pleaded, they accepted to take Shs800,000 , which I gave to him in the presence of police officers, who were dressed in plain clothes,” Mr Ekwam said.

Accusations
Following the arrest, several people accused the suspect of extorted millions of shillings from vendors and not allocating them stalls even after taking their money.

Police said another suspect is on the run.

Mr Ekwam said in November last year, he lost Shs3m to fraudsters in the market stalls allocation committee, but they still  demanded more. 

Mr Oscar Ageca, the police spokesperson for East Kyoga, said the suspect is in their custody.

“I am aware that he was arrested by the IGG in conjunction with the police and we are pursuing the matter,” he said.

Mr Peter Pex Paak, the Resident City Commissioner, said several complaints of extortion  were lodged in his office.

Mr John Joel Okalany, another vendor, said the IGG should thoroughly  investigate the allocation committee and the city officials.

City officials implicated
Vendors, who spoke to Daily Monitor on condition of anonymity, for fear of being victimised, claimed that their corrupt leaders were working with unscrupulous city council officials to extort money from them . 

However, Mr Ambrose Ocen, the city clerk, tasked those accusing the city council officials of extortion to provide evidence.  

The vendors also claim that those who never paid money to the allocation committee are facing eviction threats. 

Ms Hellen Alajo, the community development officer of Soroti East Division, declined to comment on the matter, saying she was not authorised to do so.

Background
In May last year, more than 500 vendors in Soroti City stormed the office of the Resident City Commissioner (RCC) to protest corruption in the allocation of stalls in the newly constructed market. The aggrieved vendors demanded the RCC’s intervention.