Da Dona
JF-Expert Member
- Dec 16, 2025
- 1,049
- 625
The Lira Resident District Commissioner (RDC), Lillian Eyal, and the district’s Parish Development Model (PDM) focal person, Michael Okello, have been arrested over alleged irregularities in the disbursement and use of PDM funds.
Assistant RDC Richard Okello was also arrested following complaints from beneficiaries who accused district officials of forcing them to use part of their Shs1 million PDM allocations to purchase agricultural inputs they had not requested.
The arrests were made on Friday by the Ministry of Economic Monitoring and the State House Anti-Corruption Unit (SHACU) during an oversight exercise in the district.
Beneficiaries told the monitoring team that items including maize seed, fertiliser, spray pumps and tarpaulins were supplied to them, with the cost deducted from their PDM allocations. Some said they were left with as little as Shs330,000.
Lira District Chief Administrative Officer, Ochenge Ismail, said the district stopped the process after concerns emerged about the suitability of some of the inputs.
He said officials had analysed the supplies and found that some were unsuitable, prompting them to halt the process.
However, beneficiaries also alleged that they were threatened and pressured into accepting the inputs.
Lira District Woman MP Agnes Alinda Auma said some beneficiaries told her that the Assistant RDC threatened to arrest or physically assault them when they questioned the arrangement. She also alleged that beneficiaries were told they could be excluded from other government programmes if they rejected the inputs.
Auma further alleged that beneficiaries’ phones, identification documents and PINs were collected around the time the PDM funds were deposited, allowing withdrawals from their accounts.
One beneficiary, Agnes Aciro, said she was taken to Lira City to purchase inputs and was later handed only Shs330,000 as the remaining balance.
Joan Ayebare, a principal economist in charge of economic monitoring at the Office of the President, questioned why beneficiaries were compelled to purchase inputs and why district officials did not intervene earlier.
Lira Deputy RDC Molly Kia acknowledged the complaints and said the district had identified some of the suppliers involved.
She said one of the suppliers was the wife of Assistant RDC Richard Okello and that the district could engage the suppliers to refund beneficiaries so that the money could be repaid into the revolving fund.
Under the PDM, beneficiaries receive up to Shs1 million to invest in selected enterprises such as coffee, dairy, fish farming, piggery, poultry and crop farming. The funds are intended to support household income and are repaid into a revolving fund.
The allegations are now subject to investigation by the relevant authorities.
Assistant RDC Richard Okello was also arrested following complaints from beneficiaries who accused district officials of forcing them to use part of their Shs1 million PDM allocations to purchase agricultural inputs they had not requested.
The arrests were made on Friday by the Ministry of Economic Monitoring and the State House Anti-Corruption Unit (SHACU) during an oversight exercise in the district.
Beneficiaries told the monitoring team that items including maize seed, fertiliser, spray pumps and tarpaulins were supplied to them, with the cost deducted from their PDM allocations. Some said they were left with as little as Shs330,000.
Lira District Chief Administrative Officer, Ochenge Ismail, said the district stopped the process after concerns emerged about the suitability of some of the inputs.
He said officials had analysed the supplies and found that some were unsuitable, prompting them to halt the process.
However, beneficiaries also alleged that they were threatened and pressured into accepting the inputs.
Lira District Woman MP Agnes Alinda Auma said some beneficiaries told her that the Assistant RDC threatened to arrest or physically assault them when they questioned the arrangement. She also alleged that beneficiaries were told they could be excluded from other government programmes if they rejected the inputs.
Auma further alleged that beneficiaries’ phones, identification documents and PINs were collected around the time the PDM funds were deposited, allowing withdrawals from their accounts.
One beneficiary, Agnes Aciro, said she was taken to Lira City to purchase inputs and was later handed only Shs330,000 as the remaining balance.
Joan Ayebare, a principal economist in charge of economic monitoring at the Office of the President, questioned why beneficiaries were compelled to purchase inputs and why district officials did not intervene earlier.
Lira Deputy RDC Molly Kia acknowledged the complaints and said the district had identified some of the suppliers involved.
She said one of the suppliers was the wife of Assistant RDC Richard Okello and that the district could engage the suppliers to refund beneficiaries so that the money could be repaid into the revolving fund.
Under the PDM, beneficiaries receive up to Shs1 million to invest in selected enterprises such as coffee, dairy, fish farming, piggery, poultry and crop farming. The funds are intended to support household income and are repaid into a revolving fund.
The allegations are now subject to investigation by the relevant authorities.
