Police in Pader district have on 2nd of June 2023 arrested three on allegations of misusing, embezzling and diverting over Shs 22.3m belonging to Puranga town council in Pader district without clear accountability.
The three are; Ms Nancy Adokorach Atoo- Puranga town clerk, Mr Depola Francis Ojok- Puranga town council LC 3, and Mr Jacob Ojok Olweny- the parish development model focal person for Puranga town council.
The three were arrested on orders of the Resident District Commissioner (RDC), Mr Milton Odongo upon receiving a copy of petition dated 2nd June 2023, from the councilors alleging that the accused person failed to produce bank slips and accountability of the said amount of money.
The petition was signed by eleven councilors including the town council speaker, Mr Bosco Obita. In their petition, they alleged that the town clerk and the accountant, Ms Christine Lamaci (at large) failed to produce bank statements of; non-wage account, capital development account, and locally raised revenue (LRR).
The money without accountability included; LRR with Shs 6.15m, Shs 1.4m for PDM which was used for paying the councilors, Shs 6.8m allegedly used for procuring a printer, unnecessary deductions from councilor’s allowances without receipt in names of URA tax, Shs 5m deducted from startup capital of Shs 50m on allegations of kickback provision to unidentified government official, among others.
With the above, Mr Obita said that the accused persons should be investigated thoroughly for a clear accountability.
The RDC directed the district police commander, SP Tukundane Abraham to arrest the accused persons immediately. However, Ms Christine Lamaci (the Puranga town council accountant) was not arrested since she was not around.
Odongo further called for intervention from the Inspectorate of Government (IG) and the Anti-Corruption agency saying it’s a serious matter that should be dealt with.
Earlier on, the speaker locked the offices of the three accused persons for failure to produce the accounts before the council before petitioning the RDC for intervention.
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