IG arrests two Obongi officials over Shs74M fraud
Mr Ivan Opio Onapa, District Engineer, Mr Geoffrey Tako, Desk Officer for the Development Response to Displacement Impact Project (DRDIP) were arrested on Wednesday. Photo | Courtesy | IG
What you need to know:
- This followed numerous complaints from the community members and the Resident District Commissioner (RDC), and subsequent investigations conducted.
The Inspectorate of Government (IG) on Wednesday arrested two officials from Obongi District and a contractor for allegedly diverting Shs74M from the Development Response to Displacement Impact Project (DRDIP).
The IG announced the arrest in a press statement which was posted on their X handle (formerly Twitter) yesterday.
Mr Ivan Opio Onapa, District Engineer, Mr Geoffrey Tako, Desk Officer for the Development Response to Displacement Impact Project (DRDIP), and Mr Fisher Martin, a contractor were arrested on orders of Dr Patricia Achan Okiria, the Deputy Inspector General of Government.
This followed numerous complaints from the community members and the Resident District Commissioner (RDC), and subsequent investigations conducted.
They will be arraigned in the Anti-Corruption Court today (Thursday).
"Investigations conducted by IG show that the Engineer and Desk Officer colluded with Mr.Fisher and changed the approved standard Plans of construction of the doctors’ houses in health centres by the Ministry of Health to suit their selfish interests, contrary to the DRDIP Operations Manual," the statement reads in part.
The trio changed the solid concrete walling to brick walling, the steel roofing works to timber roofing works, and never carried out test results for the ring beam, concrete bases and column stubs.
They did not carry out any technical study of the effects of changing the approved plan on the building quality, strength and cost implication.
According to investigations, the total contract amount for the construction of the Doctor’s house at Itula Health Centre III is Shs250M.
The contractor had issued two certificates amounting to Shs91,230,000 for the works so far done. However, the district officials inflated the payment to Shs113,879000, causing a financial loss of Shs22,649,000.
Further investigations show that the DRDIP Desk Officer diverted Shs52,000,000 meant for Yenga HH Cooked Stove and Briquettes sub-project to another unapproved sub-project without following the stipulated procedure.
The actions of the two district officials and contractor resulted in the loss of a total Shs74M. This undermines the objective of the project which is to improve the livelihood of the communities in the districts and improve service delivery.
