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Kole leaders connive with banks to swindle PDM cash
Members of eastern Ward 'A' PDM Sacco in Kole Town Council, attend a meeting on Friday, November 4, 2023. PHOTO | BILL OKETCH
Beneficiaries of the Parish Development Model (PDM) in Kole District have accused their leaders of swindling the money meant to help them transition from a subsistence economy to a money economy.
The accusations surfaced during a monitoring visit by a team from the Directorate of Socio-Economic Monitoring and Research, Office of the President on Friday.
The team headed by the minister of state for Economic Monitoring, Ms Beatrice Akello Akori, is currently monitoring the implementation of various government projects and policies in Lango Sub-region.
During the monitoring visit in Kole on Friday, Ogwang-Acuma Ward PDM Sacco in Aboke Town Council had quite very disturbing findings.
Mr Michael Opio, this particular PDM Sacco chairman, said their group received Shs106 million and had
However, he told the team that the money given to the beneficiaries was drastically reduced.
“You come with an application for Shs1 million, you’re told you’re too poor to afford this money, we are reducing yours to Shs300,000, to Shs500,000, to Shs600,000. It is not that the person applied for Shs300,000, it was reduced,” he said.
He said when Sacco leaders raised a complaint with the district leadership, they were arrested and held at Kole Central Police Station for two days. The suspects were later released without any charges being preferred against them.
Kole North Member of Parliament, Dr Samuel Opio Acuti, said the irregularities in the implementation of the programme cut across different PDM Saccos in the area.
He said they also discovered double payments.
“Somebody is supposed to receive Shs800,000, it’s showing it was disbursed, Shs1.6 million. When you ask the beneficiaries, they have only received Shs800,000. A person who is supposed to receive Shs1 million has received Shs2 million,” the legislator said.
“It is only when I raised the issue that the bank reversed but even the statement they brought as a reverse statement, to me it was a forged statement. The matter was presented to the committee of Parliament, they invited the bank. Very interesting, when the bank also went through, they again reversed another transaction which had taken two months before.”
Dr Opio said some of the local leaders whom he did not name were looking at him as a bad guy as he struggles to ensure there is transparency and accountability in the implementation of PDM.
“Some people have said it is political. My issues are based on facts. I’m not going to speak things outside the fact itself,” he said.
The legislator also alleged connivance between the banks and leaders to swindle PDM cash.
“The second issue that I found on the bank statement, the irregularities, you find for a full month Shs57 million has been withdrawn from a [PDM] Sacco account without authorization. That is on the bank statement,” Dr Opio said.
“Shs57 million moves out of the Sacco account and then it comes back after a month. Another Sacco, Shs31 million moved out of their bank account. It is all captured in the bank statement. I am not mentioning fiction. This is not a movie!”
Mr Esau Ekachelan, the Chief Administrative Officer, said the district has received Shs5.6 million for PDM.
“I am reliably informed that by yesterday (Thursday) evening, we are at 89 per cent. Out of the Shs5.6 billion which was given to us, about Shs4 billion plus has been disbursed and by close of business today, we might go beyond 95 per cent because all the files are ready and the payments are going on,” he said.
The accounting officer committed to working with other leaders to address any challenges affecting the implementation of government projects, programmes and policies in Kole.
“The solutions to the problems of this district are with us here. Kole District local government does not belong to one person. It belongs to all of us and therefore if there are any problems in this district, we are supposed to sit down together and solve it from here,” he added.
“I wouldn’t want to think that the Anti-Corruption Unit, the Economic Monitoring Unit have come to look for problems. They have come to guide us where we may be going wrong. At the same time, I also want them to go back telling us that ‘we are satisfied and we are happy with what you have done’. We wouldn't want you to come and only look for problems. Problems are everywhere.”
Mr Ekachelan bragged that Kole is free of corruption.
“As CAO, there are no problems here I’m telling you. If there were problems, they would have been brought to my attention. My boss, the permanent secretary, would have summoned me to ask me ‘CAO, why are the problems there?’ But he has not done it. That means things are moving on smoothly. There are small challenges which we are addressing. For us, we don’t have problems,” he said.
