Gulu City Council Mayor Julius Acire Labeja has admitted meeting Gen Caleb Akandwanaho AKA Salim Saleh, the Chief Coordinator of Operation Wealth Creation (OWC), but denied receiving money allegedly intended for city councilors.
The admission follows allegations by some councilors that Labeja met the senior military officer and received money meant for elected leaders at the city council but failed to distribute it to them.
Some councilors, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, accused the mayor of withholding the alleged funds. However, they did not publicly provide evidence to substantiate the claims.
Speaking to Uganda Radio Network (URN) in an exclusive interview on Monday, Labeja denied receiving any money from Gen. Saleh, saying their engagement focused on development opportunities for Gulu City rather than personal benefits. It remains unclear when the meeting took place.
Labeja said he considered the engagement important because it provided an opportunity to share his vision for Gulu City with Gen Saleh, whom he described as an individual with extensive experience and an interest in Uganda’s development.
“I did meet General Saleh on a couple of issues. For me, it is important that you bounce off your ideas, your vision, to people who have seen this country, to people who have interests in this country. The good general loves Gulu so much,” Labeja said.
He said the discussions focused on development opportunities, including the proposed logistics hub, railway connectivity and the potential benefits of Gulu Airport.
“Personally, I did not receive even a coin,” Labeja said. Adding that “In any case, if he was meant to give money for councilors, he does not do charity. He gives money to projects. That’s as far as I know him,” Labeja told URN.
The mayor said Gulu City needed to move away from what he described as a dependency and begging mentality towards long-term planning that would enable residents to benefit from development initiatives.
He added that councilors with proposals requiring support could present them for consideration, saying he would welcome another opportunity to engage Gen Saleh to lobby for projects benefiting the wider community.
Gulu City Council has 16 councilors, 15 affiliated with the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) and one representing the opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC).
Labeja’s admission comes amid reports that a section of NRM councilors were considering moves to impeach him. The grievances were reportedly discussed during an NRM caucus meeting held in Gulu City on October 8.
However, Gulu City Council Speaker Lamex Lambert Akena dismissed claims that the councilors were mobilising to remove the mayor, saying the activities had been misinterpreted.
Akena explained that the 15 NRM councilors had developed a constitution and registered an association whose members were required to pay annual subscriptions and membership fees.
He said the process had been misconstrued as a plan to impeach Labeja.
“So, people were just signing, and it wasn’t about impeaching the mayor. Such an allegation is not correct, and there is nothing of that nature. No intention of impeaching the mayor, and we’ve just registered our association, and that’s it,” Akena said.
Regarding the meeting with Gen Saleh, Akena said councilors from Bardege-Layibi Division had reportedly visited the OWC coordinator, with the delegation allegedly organised by Bardege-Layibi Division legislator Martin Ojara Mapenduzi.
Akena said he had separately been asked to compile a list of all Gulu City councilors for a planned visit to the industrial park in Kapeeka.
According to him, the request came through the mayor of Laroo-Pece Division Gifter Aber who had reportedly been asked to include councilors from that division in the planned visit.
Akena said he submitted the list as requested, but the wider delegation had not traveled.
“We are not yet gone. It’s only Bardege-Layibi who went and came back,” he said, adding that arrangements for the remaining councilors were still underway.
URN established that the delegation from Bardege-Layibi Division reportedly included the town clerk and other technical officials from the city council.
URN also understands that an emergency caucus meeting was convened at Acholi Inn Hotel on Monday evening, where the mayor met councilors following the allegations.
Evelyn Laker, the LCV female councilor for Bardege-Layibi South, confirmed that the meeting was intended to address grievances between the mayor and councilors.
Laker said Labeja acknowledged meeting Gen Saleh twice but explained that the engagements were personal and not official council visits.
“The mayor accepted that he met Gen Salim twice, but it was on his own, not a council visit. I think I was convinced with his explanation because even me, I can visit someone,” Laker said. However, she noted that while the majority of councilors appeared satisfied with the mayor’s explanation, some remained unconvinced-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
