SHEEMA – Sheema District Commercial Officer (DCO), Allan Buhanda has been arrested for alleged fleecing Emyooga funds.
According to Frank Kyerere, the Resident District Commissioner (RDC) Sheema, Buhanda has been demanding Shs 2 million out of the 54 Emyooga SACCOs in the district.
“There is a person who called me from Shuuku Town Council that the DCO is asking us for Shs 2 million. If we don’t give him, he will not sign for us. Others have reported to police and I have reports from Sheema North, Sheema South and others from the municipality but the State Attorney said there is no proof and therefore no case,” said Kyerere.
“The PWDs SACCO in Kitagata also reported the DCO (Allan Buhanda) of the same vice that he directed them to send the money to one of the mobile money operators in Kabwohe town. We swung into action and arrested him withholding the money as exhibit. The mobile money operator later denied the Commercial Officer ordering any money from his account,” he added.
Prof Elijah Mushemeza, area MP Sheema south also reported that a number of Emyooga SACCOs in his constituency were tired of the Commercial Officer demanding bribes before signing for them to access the money.
“Some groups told me that after receiving the money, they would give some to the DCO and I have all the groups here. Like People with disabilities (PWDs) and mechanics in Kitagata and some others handed him Shs 2 million each, so I told them to write their complaints and submit them to the RDC,” Mushemeza said.
He also told the Minister that some district officials formed quack SACCOs to benefit from the Emyooga program.
“There is Kikore SACCO in Buraro ward where members in that group are all government workers. Even others are civil servants at the district but each got Shs 700,000 and have even refused to pay back which needs to be investigated,” Hon Mushemeza said.
Nazario Tukamushaba, Chairperson PWDs SACCO testified how the DCO ordered them to pay Shs2 million before accessing the funds from DFCU bank in 2021.
“Out of Emyooga funds totaling Shs 30 million that we were going to receive, the DCO bargained with us on what we have to give him. We were even delayed to receive it because we failed to agree but when we inquired from other SACCOs, we realized there were some other dirty games that some members cannot even reveal from here. And when we went there again, he asked us to pay him Shs 2 million and it’s when he agreed to sign for us to receive the money from DFCU bank,” says Tukamushaba.
“But before handing him the money, we first asked the DCO who was going to account for the money that we deducted to give him and he only answered that being the sole signatory to the entire program, nobody was going to inquire,” he added.
“And if we don’t uproot this hole which is grabbing Emyooga funds, it will also take on the Parish Development Model (PDM) funds,” Tukamushaba advised.
Based on the above testimonies, the DCO could not wait for the function to end but instead escaped and was later returned by police officers on orders of Minister Kasolo.
In response to the raised allegations, Buhanda answered that none of the Emyooga SACCO members have evidence pinning him for the bribes.
“Such wrangles have been on, the RDC and police invited them and made statements but the matter was concluded,” he said.
Buhanda further told the minister that he is willing to pay all the monies of the SACCOs where he picked the bribes.
“Minister, whoever thinks that he gave me his money and wants it should come for it today,”
This comes at a time when Hon Haruna Kasolo Kyeyune, the State Minister for Finance, Planning and Economic Development (Micro-finance] is traversing the Western part of Uganda monitoring the progress of the Emyooga program in the region.
Kasolo ordered police to arrest the DCO immediately for further interrogation.
“Let’s take him to police cells, because the DCO is supposed to implement this program but when people start accusing you, it means that you no longer have the moral authority,” said the Minister.
He warned the district leaders not to threaten witnesses who have evidence about the DCO’s misconduct.
“I don’t want anybody to threaten these SACCO members because these people have evidence and I only want someone to confirm that we gave him this and that money. I don’t want the photos because nobody should touch on Emyooga money,” Minister Kasolo emphasized.
“When I finish with the DCO, I will now embark on the SACCO leaders because whoever ate this Emyooga money must refund it. This is not a joke. In Central region where I have been, I have arrested them,” he added.
However shortly after his arrest, Jemimah Buhanda, a mother to the suspect who is also the LC V Chairperson for Sheema district, secured police bond for the son.
When asked, Hon Buhanda attributed her son’s allegations to political detractors who intend to fail her successful political career.
“Of course, these are my political tormentors, someone cannot be happy if your child is not happy. So to make you unhappy, he first gets your child in a net then after words you are exposed, but God will bail us all,” Buhanda said.
Upon his release, Allan Buhanda was also seen normally attending to his office at the district.
When asked about the DCO’s fate, the RDC asked the CAO to interdict Buhanda replacing him with another person willing to serve diligently the people of Sheema.
“The report must be written properly and action be taken because this is dangerous. We have talked about it for a long-time and Hon Mushemeza knows but he has been denying because there was no evidence, now that we have evidence, I believe the CAO will immediately interdict him then we get another officer to handle Emyooga in a manner that is transparent,” says Kyerere.
Sheema district with three constituencies received over Shs 1.68 billion in December 2020 to cater for 54 Emyooga SACCOs but surprisingly over 20 million has already been swindled.
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