Arua District Environment Officer arrested over alleged shs20m embezzlement

By Andrew Cohen Amvesi

ARUA.  Joakim Andiandu, the Arua district Senior Environment Officer has been arrested for allegedly extorting and embezzling shs20m meant for a village savings group implementing Development Response to Displacement Impact Project (DRDIP) in Ajia sub-county, Arua district.

Andiandu who doubles as the Arua district DRDIP project desk officer was arrested on Monday together with Owen Onzima, the area community facilitator for conniving to defraud the community members of Ombamba village savings group.

The shs20m was part of the shs40m the group leadership had withdrawn from the bank to implement a forest restoration project in Ombamba village.

Geoffrey Okiswa, the Arua RDC confirmed the arrest and said after withdrawing the money from the bank, Andiandu asked the group leadership to give the shs20m to him to be shared among district leaders.

“It is very unfortunate that when Andiandu was handling the issue of DRDIP component of socio-economic empowerment of our community members particularly in Ombamba village with Ombamba village savings group in Ajia parish, Ajia sub-county, he developed an appetite on corruption tendency to extort out at least shs20m from the group. The group was expected to receive shs40m but to the surprise of the group members, they received shs20m,” Okiswa said.

“So, on finding out how comes that the money which was withdrawn as shs40m, they are only getting shs20m, the officer preferred saying that this money when you withdraw shs40m, the shs20m is meant for the district leadership and of course, the district leadership is known. We have the chairman LC5, we have the CAO and we have myself including DISO, so the community wondered! They said so, the shs20m is to be shared between the district officers, we can make inquiries,” Okiswa remarked.

He said on making inquiries is when the rat jumped out of the pocket leading to Andiandu’s arrest and his accomplice, Onzima.

“So, this is very unfortunate, we condemn corruption in the strongest terms possible and we know that NRM government is on zero tolerance to corruption particularly, money which is meant for the poor of the poor because the DRDIP socio-economic empowerment program is an equivalent of the PDM empowerment because it is targeting the power community and these were poor community members who needed to be empowered,” Okiswa said.

He warned that for somebody to play around with the poverty which is biting the ordinary people yet the NRM government is helping them to get out of the situation can’t be tolerated completely.

Okiswa noted that after their arrest, police managed to recover the shs20m from Andiandu which they are going to use as an exhibit against the suspects in court.

When contacted on phone, Josephine Angucia, the North Western police spokesperson also confirmed the arrest and said police are still conducting more investigations into the matter vide Arua CRB 011/2024.

She said currently, the suspects are still under police custody at Arua rural district police headquarters, adding that their file has already been forwarded to the Resident State Attorney – Arua for perusal and legal guidance.

Boniface Alioni, the Arua district NRM chairperson said the truth is that there has been a lot of corruption in DRDIP projects in Arua district.

“This corruption has been mainly perpetrated by the Desk Officer and some of his officers by picking money from beneficiaries. So, I want to urge all the communities who benefited under DRDIP to report such cases. I want to thank this particular community of Ajia who had the courage to report a corruption case against Andiandu and his accomplices to the police,” Alioni said.

“And now that he has produced the money he solicited from the community, he has already handed it over to police, our plea is the police should prepare that file very well and this gentleman should be produced in court and some of his collaborators if he can mention them in his statement, they should also be arrested and taken to court. Whoever, he mentions, those persons should also be produced in court and the law must take its course,” Alioni demanded.

Earlier in 2018, Paul Edobo, the former Arua district Northern Uganda Social Action Fund (NUSAF) desk officer evaded arrest and ran in to hiding up to now over similar allegations of misappropriating more than shs500m.

Edobo allegedly vanished from office in early November 2018 shortly after reports emerged that he embezzled the said money worth inputs supplied by Equator Seeds Uganda Ltd and Alioderuku traders’ association.

His action forced Ismail Ochengel, the then Arua district chief administrative officer (CAO) to engage police to break into his office and conducted a search.

It is alleged that Equator Seeds supplied a total of 98 groups in Arua district with cassava cuttings, soya beans and beans through the NUSAF office.

But out of the 98 groups supplied, the company only received payment from 48 groups while the remaining money from the rest of the groups ended up in Edobo’s pocket.

Edobo was later replaced by the same Andiandu who has now been arrested over a similar offense.