A suspect in Police custody after arrest (Courtesy Photo))
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NEWS– The Mitooma district Deputy Resident Commissioner Merycent Ariyo Abiine in joint effort with Police in Mitooma district on Wednesday, July 24th 2024 arrested three parish chiefs for allegedly extorting money from Parish Development Model beneficiaries.

According to Abiine, the trio are Mugabe Emmuel the Parish chief of Kyeibare parish in Mutara who allegedly stole money when he was still at Sazinga parish. It is alleged that Mugabe was charging Ugx 50,000 before giving out money to the beneficiaries.

Another suspect is Dan Agaba the Parish chief for Kigarama in Bitereko sub-county and Alex Ruhangaariho, the Parish chief for Kibungo in Kigyende sub-county. Abiine stressed that they will be charged with misuse of office and corruption.

Ariyo further stressed that as security team, they have just started and are ready to arrest whoever is involved siphoning money from the people that the government intends to alleviate from poverty hence asking residents to be the key notifying them in case they suspect any discrepancy in this program.

Meanwhile Benon Karyeija aka Boneza, the Mitooma district chairperson had earlier noted that whoever will be suspected of corruption under this PDM program will be arrested and prosecuted.

The trio’s arrest followed a directive by the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Thomas Tayebwa after numerous complaints from the leaders about their conduct.

Tayebwa recently issued this order while addressing both sub-county and parish chiefs at the Bitereko Sub-county headquarters to assess the progress of the Parish Development Model.

It was discovered that many parish chiefs are still extorting money from people before they can access PDM funds.

The issue was raised by Turinawe Charity, the district lady councilor for Bitereko, and Tugume Lemigious, the district councilor representing Rutookye Town Council, who stressed that people are suffering in silence due to the actions of parish chiefs.

Juliet Agasha Bashisha, the Mitooma District Woman Member of Parliament, noted that the public has not benefited from the PDM funds because a portion of the money is being used for bribes.