Sub-county chief, treasurer held over embezzlement

By Gilbert Akampa Kakurugu and Doreen Ankunda,

REGIONAL

Two sub-county officials in Kabale district are in police custody over alleged embezzlement of 67 million shillings sub-county development funds

The suspects are Ivan Mugayehwenki, the sub-county chief and Wilberforce Tumwesigye, the treasurer both officials of Rubaya sub-county in Kabale.

According to Godfrey Nyakahuma, Kabale Resident District Commissioner who recently received a tip-off from the whistleblowers in the sub county informing him that they had spent almost three years without any service apart from constructing the sub county Administration block and One Kilometer Bushonga-Mukibindi-Habugarama road.

He says that after being tipped, he tasked the district Chief Administrative Officer to draft down the activity report showing the projects done in the sub county. While on his monitory visit together with Deputy Resident Commissioner Ronald Bakak and District Internal Decurity Officer Lauben Mutabazi on Thursday this week, Nyakahuma, discovered that there was misuse of funds where he summoned the two officials to appear before the District Engineer and Chief administrative officer for technical guidance.

Nyakahuma and his team discovered that through Rubaya Subcounty bank account, the subcounty received 300 million that was meant to construct administration blocks of Kahungye, Kibuga and Rubaya sub counties. He added that out of 300 million received, the subcounty used only 271,503,630 million shillings to construct the three administration blocks. He said, they now want the two to refund 28,496,370 million shillings they have failed to account for.

He also told our reporter that the subcounty has been receiving funds for ghost Musamba-Bubona-Murungu roads worth 18,795,906 million shillings since the 2019/2020 financial year and no value money worth 20,600,000 million shillings to rehabilitate Bushonga-Mukibindi-Habugarama and Kabirago- Kishaze roads.

The duo has been arrested at Kabale Central police station to make statements and given an ultimatum of two days to cough the 67,892,276 missing million shillings failure of which they will be arraigned before courts of law.