Op-Ed: Spare late Oulanyah’s name from Cooperative fund inquiry

By Ochen Julius Peter

I have read with shock the findings of the report of the Committee on Trade, Industry and Cooperatives on the scandal that befell the East Acholi Cooperative Union; and the article by the Observer published on July 10th, 2024 with the headline ‘Oulanyah, Otto, MPs named in Cooperative Funds Scandal’.

It is unfortunate that Hon Aceng Hellen, the Chairperson for East Acholi Cooperative, chose to conveniently use the name of a deceased person to improve her accountability for the cooperative fund that was under scrutiny.

Upon receipt of her unverified testimony to the Committee of Parliament, we took it upon ourselves to verify these claims that sought to drag the name of the late Rt. Hon. Jacob Oulanyah into disrepute. We used legal means to obtain a communication printout of Ms Aceng Hellen for the period in question.

Our findings were that, the whole month of October, Ms. Aceng was in Kampala for 4 days, Gulu for 4 days between 7th – 9th and 18th – 20th. In Lira for 1 day and Kitgum several times, but mostly in Pader District. She never set foot in Arua even for 1 minute as she claimed before the committee.

Further analysis of her communications for the month of December when she claims that she delivered 100M to the Late’s residence in Muyenga, her communication print shows that she was in Pader District in the areas of Pader town, Kilak Corner, Awere, Rackoko and Puranga, but never in Kampala even for a day. She also went to Lira for 4 hours and two days in Kitgum between 10 am and 3 pm.

When she learned of a family-instituted investigation against her claims, with the potential for civil suit against her, she sought asylum in Canada, where she is currently admitted at a refugee camp.

We therefore request the public to treat the unverified testimony of Ms. Aceng Hellen as a fabrication of a very fertile imagination engineered to save one’s skin at the expense of another’s reputation.

We regret the name of the Late Rt. Hon. Jacob Oulanyah being dragged in the mud for conceited expediency; a man who valued integrity and decorum.

The writer served as a Personal Assistant to the late Jacob Oulanyah.