It was the 10th of August 2023, while on official duty that the Resident District Commissioner (RDC) of Butaleja District, a one Ms. Hajira Namagogwe working with the District Police Commander to have me arrested as a result of speaking out against corruption in the Parish Development Model program.
Just in case you did not know, RDCs are revered, feared and worshipped as they pass on as mini national presidents or district presidents. For any district that gets unlucky to have a Johnny Come Lately appointed in this position, the end result is never good especially if the people in that area are the fearful type that easily get intimidated.
Butaleja District has repeatedly suffered in this regard as a result of being regarded as a nursery bed for new appointees hence leading to a lot of friction in the process.
On the 7th of August 2023, after getting information from a number of PDM project participants, I did share a message on some WhatsApp groups that triggered off her emotions hence leading to an instruction she gave the District Police Commander to have me arrested. Despite being advised against the move, emotional frailties got the upper hand of her and these were fueled by other district leaders who were already aggrieved by my participation in an earlier petition submitted to the IGG’s office complaining about the massive corruption involved in the job appointments by the District Service Commission.
The message she considered offensive read as follows;
PDM CASH BONANZA IN BUTALEJA
Information creeping in has it that officials engaged in the distribution of PDM money are making a killing levying illegal charges from applicants.
Applicants from Nabiganda are currently the most highly affected.
A WISO informer has revealed that they are even using the good name of a hard talker to justify their thuggery.
He further states that the office of the RDC is already compromised, something that doesn’t surprise me at all.
This notice therefore serves the purpose of notifying those engaged in these illicit dealings to watch out because continued indulgence will land them in trouble for sure.
An arrest was effected on the 10th of August 2023 just after a meeting the Board of Busolwe General Hospital that I head had just been concluded at the office of the LCV Chairman of the district which had the participation of the RDC too.
Upon getting to the police station, notification was given to me that I was being charged under the Computer Misuse Act for Cyber Bullying. The DPC notified me that I had spoken ill of the RDC hence the reason she preferred to have me arrested.
A lot happened between the evening of my arrest and the following morning culminating into my release. However, the biggest outcome that pleased me was the fact that the matters of corruption being raised at the district were made more prominent by this arrest.
Despite the numerous individuals that keep traversing Butaleja district defrauding residents of their money, property and finances with promises of delivery of jobs and PDM support, nothing was being done with genuine intent to address them.
The perpetrators of these scams are connected to the ruling clique and this is an open secret. Each time the people come up to complain, they are tasked to provide evidence and upon its provision, they are intimidated into silence.
How does PDM Money get stolen in Butaleja district?
It is a multi-layered scheme that has officials at various levels scheming off the loot using a systematic chain of command.
You have got some SACCOs that charge the beneficiaries exaggerated amounts of money from the recipients to the tune of 300,000/= from someone getting a loan of 1,000,000/=. They use various lies like the need to process the payments with the bank managers so they are dispensed on time, overhead costs like printing and photocopying, as well as the oiling of players high above in the chain of command.
Some SACCO officials in conjunction with other government workers like GISOs and Parish Chiefs are alleged to be escorting these beneficiaries to the banks where the money is paid in cash upon withdrawal, thereby killing any trail of evidence.
The Parish Chiefs have been found to also play a big role in this heist. They see it as a bonanza to rip off the peasants. These are the very individuals who are alleged to have paid heavily to be given those jobs with some having forged papers hence not being qualified.
There are cases talked about in the West Bunyole Constituency where the officials have offered to take in-kind goods to the beneficiaries e.g for someone that has a plan to set up a chicken project, instead of giving them money, they buy the chicken on their behalf and deliver. The respondent does not receive cash at all.
What has the Office of the RDC done to ensure that the President’s pet project is running well?
Apart from turning herself into a busy body and running around the district with the LCV Chairman usurping the role of the District Internal Security Officer seemingly investigating the leads, there is nothing that has come out of these engagements.
Interestingly, even when some information is availed to the office by concerned individuals, no action is taken, hence sending complainants into silent mode. This was the case with some SACCO members from Busibira Parish.
Parish Chiefs had a field day, making false registration of recipients in order to split the allotted money with them. One hotbed of this activity was the Busolwe Town Council area where a ward predominantly occupied by civil servants had numerous applicants for PDM support yet they never originated from that ward.
When shit hit the fan and some arrests of Parish Chiefs were made by the Police, they were released upon bribing their way out after paying UGX 300,000/= each. They are now walking around scot free like nothing happened.
This leaves one wondering why the RDC is keen on seeing the crusaders of uprightness incarcerated and pays a deaf ear to the perpetrators of the corruption. That could make the public begin thinking that she is doing what her master the President sent her to do.
Matters are worsened when she gangs up with other local political leaders to brand anyone fighting for good governance in the district as a National Unity Platform (NUP) sympathizer. If unintelligence needed recruits, these would be some of the prime recruits.
The PDM program in Butaleja district is unlikely to have the expected impact save for passing off as another opportunity for a selected few to feed off the public purse.
James Wire
Citizen Advocate
X – @wirejames
Threads – @wire_james
The Wire Perspective 