Police in Nakaloke, Mbale Northern City Division, on Thursday arrested and detained the Chairman of Nabuyonga Ward PDM Sacco, Mwingo Charles, on allegations of extortion and sabotaging a government program.
Mwingo was arrested on the orders of the Deputy RCC in charge of Mbale Northern City Division, Mr. Were Yahya, and is currently being held at Nakaloke Police Station as investigations continue.
Yahya told the media that, the suspect is accused of soliciting bribes ranging from Sh40,000 to Sh100,000 from Sacco members before including them on the list of PDM fund beneficiaries.
“It is alleged that the suspect has been recommending only those who give him ‘kickbacks’ to access the funds,” Yahya revealed.
“Mwingo has reportedly been charging money from each beneficiary, and whoever failed to pay was not considered,” the RCC added.
At the time of the arrest, the Deputy RCC was meeting with potential beneficiaries to launch the program so they could start receiving funds. However, upon receiving complaints that Charles was demanding payments for his services and giving Sh1million to two beneficiaries actions contrary to PDM guidelines, he halted the exercise.
“The President is coming to the city, and we expect the beneficiaries to testify on how the PDM program is running. But Sacco leaders are sabotaging the program. We will not allow this to happen,” Yahya said.
Yahya emphasized that the guidelines were not being followed, stating, “This money is for the people of Nabuyonga Ward, not for the friends of Sacco leaders.”
“I received complaints against him before arriving here, and it’s offensive for anyone to interfere with a government program. Let the police handle the matter,” he added.
“I have stopped the process as it was marred by fraud. Let the Sacco leaders and group members sort out these issues and elect new leaders before we can relaunch,” Were stated.
“No Ugandan is supposed to be charged before receiving PDM funds, and anyone who does so not only commits the offense of abuse of office but also sabotages a government program, which is unacceptable,” he concluded.
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