KALIRO: Two district staff arrested for alleged embezzlement of UGX 5.8b

Kaliro, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Inspectorate of Government has arrested two staff of Kaliro District Local Government for alleged embezzlement of 5.8 Billion Shillings. They are Godfrey Mutome, the Chief Finance Officer, and Rebecca Kwagala, the Principal Human Resource Officer.

Also arrested is Ministry of Finance Senior Accountant, John Wabwire. The three allegedly embezzled funds meant for pensions and salaries for teachers.

It is alleged that, between October 2014 and July 2022, Kwagala, Mutome, and Wabwire registered Kaliro Civil Servants Sacco, where they deposited the 5.8 Billion Shillings, and deducted from the teachers’ accounts to service salary loans, yet none of the victims had accessed loans within that period.

The victims filed a complaint with the Regional Inspectorate of Government Office in Jinja and investigations commenced.

One of the pensioners who preferred anonymity says that he retired four years ago, but he has never accessed pension on his bank account, despite documents from the Ministry of Finance indicating that his pension funds were being released.

The Jinja Regional Inspectorate Officer, Fredrick Oketch, says that both Mutome and Kwagala were in March arrested for misappropriating pension funds amounting to 348 Million Shillings and this case will run concurrently with the fresh charges slapped on them.

Oketch further decried increasing cases of payroll and land fraud in the Busoga sub-region.

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