“You must cough the 5 Million Shs Road Funds”. IGG Tells Kole Engineer

Kole District - The Deputy Inspector General of Government (IGG), Patricia Achan Okiria has directed Kole District Engineer, Julius Ojut to refund 5,000,000 shillings. The order stems from an investigation into the mismanagement of funds allocated for the rehabilitation of Ngetta-Alito road.

In a letter dated December 4, 2024, the Deputy IGG’s office outlined that Ojut had failed to properly account for funds intended to purchase murram for the Ngetta – Alito road said to be in a sorry state.

The investigation revealed that Ojut Julius had received a total of 8,000,000 shillings for the purchase of murram. However, he only accounted for 3,000,000 shillings.

In his defence, Ojut claimed to have paid 2,000,000 shillings to George Obong on behalf of another individual identified as Martin Opio to facilitate the purchase of murram. However, investigators were unable to trace either of these individuals, and no evidence was provided to verify the claim.

Digging deeper into the dirty deals, discrepancies were brought to light when Ojut claimed to have paid 2,000,000 shillings to Peter Acuti for quarry materials. However, Acuti confirmed he had only received 1,000,000 shillings.

Similarly, Ojut stated that he paid 2,000,000 shillings to another supplier, Joseph Oyang, but just like Acuti, Oyang confirmed receiving only 1,000,000 shillings.

Meanwhile, a third supplier in this puzzle identified as Bosco Omara was also allegedly paid 2,000,000 shillings, but later confirmed receiving only 1,000,000 shillings.

The mismanaged funds under the hands of Ojut were intended to support the gravelling of 22 kilometres Ngetta-Alito road.

With such an act, many local residents have expressed frustration, blaming the poor road condition on shoddy work and the inadequate amount of murram that was applied.

This is the second incident this year that the IGG has intervened in Kole District’s handling of road funds.

In 2023, the IGG issued a public notice directing several civil servants, including Kole District engineer Emmanuel Okello, to refund a total of 43,117,000 shillings for road funds that were misused.

The IGG’s actions highlight the ongoing issue of mismanagement and corruption within Uganda’s road infrastructure projects and the IGG has demanded the immediate return of 5,000,000 shillings by Ojut Julius to the asset recovery account.

The total cost of corruption in Uganda is estimated to be UGX 9.144 trillion per year which is equivalent to 44% of total government revenue in 2019.