The Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of Bukedea District, Andrew Milton Kamalingin Chelanget, has given a period of one week for over 100 civil servants to pay back the money they allegedly received from the Parish Development Model (PDM) program.
Civil servants in various sectors at Bukedea District local government involved themselves in the government program without following the proper guidelines on how the project was supposed to be implemented.
It is alleged that the PDM cash was shared amongst Bukedea civil servants, including parish chiefs, education assistants, primary head teachers, nursing assistants, members of the engineering department, sports department, staff surveyors, LC III chairpersons, education officers, nursing officers, and porters.
Chelanget noted that he has written to the civil servants after the PDM coordinator indicated that it was clear they had benefited from the program that was not meant for them. He stated that it has been proven that the civil servants benefited from PDM funds totaling over 99 million shillings.
“I want them to pay the money, and from there they will face disciplinary action. The names will be forwarded to the service commission to decide on them since it’s clear that they took the funds. There is no more investigation because it’s clear that they took the PDM funds,” Chelanget said.
He appealed to the community to help his office with information in case they know of any civil servant who benefited and has not yet been identified.
Hajji Arafat Oyo, the Assistant Resident District Commissioner for Bukedea District, noted that the officials in the district are shocked that civil servants, who receive a government salary, also obtained the money meant for poor communities.
“We are investigating how these people got the money, especially since we have parish chiefs in those parishes. I am interested in knowing how the responsible people allowed those civil servants to register and benefit from PDM cash,” Oyo said. Oyo alleges that he has managed to recover over 30 million shillings that were extorted from PDM funds.
The CAO’s office has required the affected officers to refund the money they reportedly received under PDM, a government program intended to lift 39% of households in a subsistence economy into the money economy. By policy, civil servants and other salaried government employees are not eligible to benefit from PDM funds-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
