Africa-Press – Uganda. About Shs300 million disbursed to beneficiaries of Parish Development Model (PDM) has ended up in the pockets of greedy Savings and Credit Cooperative Organisation (Sacco) leaders in Amolatar District.
Authorities say “the fraud has crippled the operation of 44 PDM Saccos and denied 300 vulnerable farmers the opportunity to increase their household incomes.”
Under PDM, Amolatar District received about Shs9.1billion last year and the cash was meant to be shared among 85 Saccos, said Samuel Mbirwa, the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO).
Sacco leaders said they disbursed the money to their members using Wendi, PostBank’s mobile money service platform designed to promote financial inclusion to all Ugandans.
Under the Wendi system, the electronic value held by a customer or agent can be used to perform any financial transaction that is supported within the mobile money’s core system.
Wendi empowers users and groups, particularly those with limited access to traditional financial services to access, manage, save, invest and pay for various services without requiring a bank account or smartphone in addition to offering them convenience, according to PostBank Uganda.
Amolatar LC5 chairman Geoffrey Ocen explained that initially, PDM money was meant to be transferred from PostBank to Wendi Sacco accounts.
In the process, some unscrupulous Sacco leaders discovered some loopholes which they allegedly used to steal PDM funds or simply disburse to ghost accounts.
“During the process of disbursement, we were getting complaints that a beneficiary would receive approval messages indicating that their PDM loan worth Shs1 million has been approved. Now you can check your Wendi account and withdraw the cash. But people were not getting such monies onto their accounts,” Ocen told on Thursday.
A special district audit conducted between March and April showed that Shs102 million was given to individuals not meant to benefit from PDM.
Further, an additional Shs198million was stolen in overpayment to the beneficiaries.
“You find a beneficiary who was meant to get like Shs1 million eventually paid Shs14 million. Some were paid Shs14million, others Shs15million, Shs5million, Shs2million and others Shs1.5 million, totaling to around Shs198 million,” the district chairman noted.
So far, police in Amolatar District have detained about 10 people as part of ongoing criminal investigations into the misuse of funds earmarked for PDM.
Amolatar Resident District Commissioner (RDC) Francis Okello Rwotlonyo confirmed that the suspects are being held at Amolatar Central Police Station.
“I’ve told the District Police Commander (DPC) and the officer in charge of Criminal Investigation Department (CID) that these cases must not be tempered with… if they do not do their part [perfectly], security team shall not hesitate to invite the State House Anti-Corruption team to institute fresh investigations,” the RDC warned.
In August 2023, four people, including a community development officer were arrested in connection with the alleged misuse of Shs36.6 million disbursed to Aputi Sub-county for the implementation of the government led initiative aimed at improving household income.
However, dozens of suspects who were wanted on fraud charges relating to the economic empowerment fund crossed Lake Kyoga via ferry as they evaded arrest.
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