At the Butebo District Headquarters on Friday, there was drama as officials from the State Capitol’s anti-corruption division flogged the district’s chief financial officer (CFO), who was arrested on corruption-related charges.
Simon Kuwa Mutekanga and other senior civil servants in the district are accused of creating Kanginima SS, a ghost secondary school that fictitiously enrolls 250 students.
The school has reportedly received 40 million shillings quarterly from the government for the past three years.
When the publication visited Kanginima county last month, where the school was supposed to be, residents said they had never seen the institution in their area.
Mutekanga has also been accused of irregularly transferring funds to educational institutions, contrary to government guidelines.
dramatic scene
He was summoned to appear before state legislative officials on Friday, who spent hours scrutinizing him about the allegations.
During questioning, state legislative officials told Mr. Mutekanga that he had been arrested and would be arraigned in court to answer corruption charges.
Upon hearing this, Mutekanga made excuses in an attempt to escape arrest and fled the administrative block where he was grilled.
However, officials tracked him down and caught him at a banana plantation near the ward office.
The visibly indicted state legislature official flogged Mutekanga several times and left his clothes in tatters before being bundled up in a waiting double-cabin pickup truck.
The arrest comes after state legislature officials camped in the district to investigate what it called a “massive corruption scandal” that some leaders allegedly stifled the district and frustrated service delivery. It happened a few days later.
The team of state legislative officials on the ground includes Samuel Alinaiwe, Charles Mugeluwa and Samre Liwa.
Butebo RDC’s Paul Mwidu Kallikwani, in a September letter to the State Capitol’s Anti-Corruption Division, called for a forensic investigation into the establishment of a ghost school in Butebo and other corruption scandals that have rocked the district. .
Others, including Mutekanga and Jacinta Ikesa, previously [Planner]Josephine Kanney [Inspector of schools]Theopista Akia [internal Auditor]Ben Okou Okiria [Senior Internal Auditor]and Mr. Charles Wasmire [Accountant for education department), Mr Asakeri Makata [DEO]Mr. Boi Tasamba [former DEO]Evaristoemon [Inspector in-charge counselling and guidance] and Chief Financial Officer [CFO]Former CAOs Koowa Mutekanga and Kasim Asibu Kutosi were arrested by police on the same charges.
Kallikwani confirmed Mutekanga’s arrest by the State Capitol’s anti-corruption unit and said it was part of an effort to clean up the district and improve service delivery.
“Corruption is affecting service delivery in the district. A case of double wire transfer was discovered and the principal teacher was told to withdraw the money and bring it back to the district. Corruption,” he said.
Further corruption allegations
The publication also learned that Anti-Corruption Unit officials are conducting further investigations into nonpayment of completed projects, nonpayment of procured items, and failure to release funds to the department.
At a council meeting chaired by district chairman Gilbert Omgit last month, some lawmakers called for Mutekanga to step down, citing several corruption allegations against him.
However, some people have criticized the domineering methods used by anti-corruption officials in the state legislature to arrest suspects.