Moses Kisembo Bahemuka, the Chief Administrative Officer Nakapiripirit district has come under fire for allegedly condoning corruption after he reinstated an officer interdicted for corruption. Lillian Ogobi, the Nakapiripirit district commercial officer was interdicted for the alleged theft of 100 million shillings from the district accounts.
Ogobi was accused of forging the signature of the CAO which she used to withdraw shillings 82 million from the district account. The money was meant for Community Driven Development projects. She also allegedly forged receipts for revenue and collected 21 million shillings from gold dealers at Acherer gold mining site. She was arrested and charged with Embezzlement, Abuse of office, conspiracy to fraud and forgery and there after interdicted.
However, on Wednesday during the council meeting, councilors were shocked to learn that Moses Kisembo Bahemuka, the CAO had lifted the interdiction without notifying council despite the fact that court cases are still ongoing. The council accordingly tasked the CAO to explain the circumstances under which Ogobi’s interdiction was lifted.
Ilukol Jobs Lomenen, the Deputy CAO who represented his boss in the meeting confirmed the lifting of Ogobi’s interdiction. He confessed that the action was an oversight by their office. He however blamed the office of the Director of Public Prosecution which he claims did not specify to them which cases against Ogobi has been dropped and those still pending.
Ilukol promised to take appropriate action which he did not mention. Topher Gimei, the officer in charge of the District Criminal Investigation Department said that the lifting of the interdiction was pre-maturely done because the DPP dropped only one case of conspiracy to fraud but three other charges including Embezzlement, Abuse of office and forgery are still pending in court.
Now, the councilors led by John Lorot, Nakapiripirit district LC V chairperson accuse the office of the CAO for encouraging corruption amongst civil servants. They claim that Bahemuka is deliberately adamant on following corruption cases against district officials. Jotham Loyor, the District speaker laments the lack of legal representation of the district in cases of embezzlement in court proceedings. He says that the council will seek advice from the attorney general on legal representation.
Loyor blames the CAO for not following up with the cases in court as a District accounting Officer. He claims that even the case of conspiracy to fraud against Ogobi was dropped because the CAO did not follow up. Nakapiripirit District has over time lost billions of shillings in similar situations and nothing is done to recover the money yet suspects are at large.
