Three officials from Soroti District were arrested on charges of office abuse, following orders from the State Minister for Economic Monitoring. The arrested individuals, who include Haggai Ewena, the senior procurement officer, Alex Oriokot, the acting district engineer, and Simon Okello, the assistant engineering officer, were taken into custody on Tuesday evening at Tubur Town Council.
The arrests were a result of an inspection visit to the district by representatives from the Ministry of State for Economic Monitoring, led by Ms Fatuma Namukwaya, and a team from the State House Anti-Corruption Unit. The investigation revealed procurement irregularities, office abuse, and negligence, which have all negatively impacted service delivery in Soroti during the construction of a low-cost seal road in Tubur town council.
Following the interrogation of the three officers, Mr Samuel Ssebikari, the ministry’s legal head, clarified that despite the contract agreement being explicit, the officials chose to disregard it. He pointed out the discrepancies in the project lengths specified in the contracts, with one stating 0.9 kilometres and the other 0.5 kilometres.
Mr Salim Komakech, the Resident District Commissioner, noted that one phase of the low-cost sealing indicates work on 0.9kms, while the 0.5kms phase appears untouched, thus creating a contradiction. He stated that these areas, including the procurement process leading to these discrepancies, will be the focus of the investigation. He further added that the contentious issue is the length of the road under construction, and the arrested officers will be interrogated to provide answers.
Earlier in the day, Ms Fatuma Namukwaya had warned district officials against work laxity and undermining government programs.