The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Arua, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Obongi Chief Administrative Officer-CAO, Andrew Leru has coughed Shillings 30.6 million he illegally obtained from the Parish Development Model (PDM) program.
He returned the money at Arua central police station on Wednesday morning following his arrest on Tuesday evening in a joint operation conducted by officials from Arua city and PDM secretariat.
Jovrine Kalisa, the Deputy National Coordinator of the Parish Development Model, says that the recovered funds were meant for the implementation of the project activities in Nwoya district.
She says that Leru stole the money during his tenure as Nwoya Chief Administrative Officer.
According to Andrew Leru, the funds were meant for administrative costs in the implementation of the Parish Development Model during the 2021/2022 financial year.
He admitted that there was an omission on his part regarding the revolving fund. Leru told Uganda Radio Network that he refunded the money as an example for those who have misappropriated the funds.
In 2022, Nwoya district carried out an internal audit that revealed that Shillings 170 million out of the Shillings 417 million the district received in the 2021/22 financial year for PDM was diverted.
The Parish Development Model (PDM), which was launched by President Yoweri Museveni in Kibuku district in February last year seeks to lift about 17.5 million Ugandans out of poverty by transforming them from subsistence to a money economy.
The model is a government strategy for organizing and delivering public and private sector interventions for wealth creation and employment generation at the parish level as the lowest economic planning unit. Leru was released without charge after refunding the money.
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