Parish Chief and 2 PDM SACCO Leaders Arrested in Kabarole

Kabarole District | THE BLACK EXAMINER | Kabarole district police yesterday apprehended three individuals for extorting money from beneficiaries of the Parish Development Model.

The arrest of these leaders ensued after they demanded a mandatory fee of 50,000 Ugandan shillings from each individual seeking to join the Parish Development Model SACCO.

Festus Bandeeba, the Resident District Commissioner of Kabarole, stated that those arrested include Rugabaliyo Joseph, the Parish Chief; Semeza Jesper, the SACCO treasurer; and Makole Vincent, the Chairperson of the Kituule Parish PDM Committee.

According to the police, those arrested had solicited 50,000 shillings from each member of the Kituule Parish Development Model SACCO in Hakibale sub-county to access the program’s benefits.

At the time of their arrest, the three had already amassed a total of 650,000 shillings from the 13 SACCO members. However, they ran into trouble when they pocketed the funds and excluded the members from benefiting from the program.

During a meeting between the RDC and the affected SACCO members at Hakibare sub-county headquarters, the bribe money collected from the arrested individuals was returned to the rightful owners.

Bandeeba issued a stern warning, urging them to refrain from engaging in bribery to gain access to government programs.

When questioned about why those who had offered bribes had not been arrested, the RDC explained that they were considered heroes for coming forward and reporting the bribery.

It’s essential to note that beneficiaries of the Parish Development Model are not required to pay any fees to join. This government strategy aims to organize and provide public and private sector support at the parish level to boost wealth creation and employment generation without any financial burden on the beneficiaries.

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