Jimmy Emmanuel | Tayari News
RUBANDA – Six government officials from Rubanda District were arrested on Monday, 2nd March, by officials from the Inspectorate of Government on allegations of embezzling up to 107,688,900 Uganda Shillings and abuse of office.
The suspects include Benon Kahangi, the District Production and Marketing Officer, Stephen Buregyeya, the District Senior Treasurer, Sixtus Ahabwe, the Assistant Veterinary Officer, Owen Atuheire, the Assistant Inventory Management Officer, Wilson Kwizera, the Assistant Agricultural Officer and Pamela Musimenta, the Assistant Agricultural Officer.
IG officials also arrested Nicholas Karuhanga, Director of Hummer Consults Company Limited, a contracting company, for conspiring with Kahangi, the District Production Officer, in stealing some of the funds.
Karuhanga was arrested in Rukungiri, where he was allegedly hiding. Peter Rurinayo, the District Finance Officer and Gerald Sibomana, the District Fisheries Officer, are currently on the run.
According to the charge sheet signed by Brenda Kimbugwe, the Manager in charge of the prosecution’s office of IG, the suspects allegedly withdrew money from the bank account to carry out agricultural extension activities in different sub-counties, but there was no accountability for the funds.
The accused were on Monday confined in the office of the Rubanda District Chief Administrative Officer, where they were grilled for more than an hour, after which they were driven off to Kampala.
Noeline Nsungwa, the supervisor of Ombudsman Affairs in Charge of the Kabale region office, said the accused were taken to Kampala to be prosecuted in the Anti-Corruption Court.
She told reporters that efforts to arrest two other civil servants currently on the run were underway on charges of embezzlement and abuse of office.