Africa-Press – Uganda. Outgoing Jinja West Member of Parliament, Mr Moses Balyeku has dismissed reports that he stole over Shs240 million from Busoga Parliamentary Forum bank account.
It’s alleged that Mr Balyeku who has been serving as the Forum’s vice chairperson and two other signatories to the group’s account in Tropical Bank Ltd fraudulently withdrew Shs240 million and used it for personal benefits.
However, Mr Balyeku, who is the principal signatory to the account has denied authorizing withdraw and release of the said money.
He says the release of the money was instead authorized by his other co-signatories to the group’s account.
Members of the group make monthly contributions of Shs200,000, each to a fund, intended to facilitate activities of the forum and to support members at times of need, including when members are faced with bereavement.
The said monies are deducted from members at source by Parliament and transferred to the forum’s account maintained in Tropical Bank Ltd and any two of the three authorized signatories, including Mr Balyeku, the General Secretary Mariam Naigaga and the treasurer Julie Mukoda can sign instructions to the bank.
Mr Balyeku claims that when the reports started circulating, he was compelled to procure the bank statements and peruse the same and has since discovered that the said monies have been withdrawn variously by the other signatories.
“Our client has never authorized any abuse of those funds in all the said transactions, as he never signed on any cheques authorizing their withdrawal of funds,” reads part of the statement issued by Mr Balyeku’s lawyers of Galisonga & Co. Advocates. The statement was accompanied with copies of the statement which were seen by this reporter.
Our repeated phone calls to the known telephone numbers of Naigaga and Mukoda who are also signatories to the account went unanswered.
When contacted, the outgoing Bukooli South MP, Mr Stephen Mayende Dede who is also the whip for Busoga parliamentary caucus said over Shs300 million had been collected by the 27 members of the forum and that the three signatories to the account had been instructed by members to withdraw a total of Shs60 million over time. This would leave over Shs240 million but to their dismay, the money is nowhere to be seen.
“We asked them for our money because the term for the 10th Parliament had expired. The 11th Parliament will start their own caucus of which some of us won’t be members. We are giving them one week’s ultimatum to refund the money or else we shall expose them,” Dede told this reporter.
When contacted, Mr Balyeku confirmed that whereas it was true the money had been collected from members on a monthly basis, he was not in any way connected to the withdrawal of the same.
He promised to take steps with other executive members to investigate the matter and in due course, the findings shall be reported.
