ALEBTONG-The Local council one chairperson of Telela village in Adwir Sub-county, Alebtong district is in trouble after he sold a bicycle donated by the government.
According to Paddy Francis Ogwang, the Adwir Subcounty LCIII chairperson, Ola Joel is in hiding after he allegedly sold the bicycle to raise school fees for his children.
Ola was among 794 local leaders in the district who received the bicycles delivered by the Ministry of Local Government to ease their movement as they monitor government programmes.
The bicycles were given to the village leaders to mobilise people to participate in government such as the Parish Development Model [PDM], immunization, pregnant mothers to attend antenatal care, monitoring the performance of village health teams [VHTs,] and security among others.
During the handover in Alebtong, the Government Chief Whip, Denis Hamson Obua cautioned the village and parish heads against selling off the bicycles.
“The most fundamental usage of these machines is to facilitate you to monitor the Government programmes and mobilize people in your respective area of jurisdiction,” Obua was quoted as saying.
Ogwang said Ola sold the bike at Shs 200,000 and disappeared when the local police started hunting for him after receiving information about the sale of the bicycle.
Ogwang said Ola claimed he needed Shs 280,000 to pay for fees for his children.
“Right now we want him arrested, hand over the bicycle and stamp then people will elect another chairperson,” he added.
He said Ola has only one kid in nursery school, adding that he sold the bicycle to get money for drinking.
Ola is not the only village leader that has sold a government bicycle. Others in districts like Bududa and Koboko have done the same. In Bududa, those who sold the bicycles reasoned that the hilly terrain could not allow them to ride the bicycles.
At the national level, in 2010, a total of 70,000 LC1 and LC2 chairpersons were to get bicycles. The procurement was, however, halted following allegations that corrupt officials were involved in the misappropriation of Shs 4.6 billion.
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