Adjumani, (UG):- The aggrieved business tycoons in Adjumani under their umbrella Adjumani District Contractors Association (ADCA) have vowed to drag the permanent secretary Ministry of Local Government Mr. Ben Kumumanya to court accusing him of in-breeding corruption in the West Nile district.
The hard-hitting statement of the petulant entrepreneurs stems from the long spell of waiting for the report of inspectors’ who were assigned by PS Kumumanya on May 29, 2024, to investigate the allegations of tax fraud in DRDIP where former CAO Mr Oryono Grandfield and his cohorts were accused of failing to remit cash worth shs 1.1bn to Uganda Revenue Authority (URA).
Mr Bakayi Richard Jimmy, the Vice Chairman of ADCA in an elaborate interface with DailyExpress on September 23, 2024, said when the Local government inspectors met them on May 13, the team leader Mr Ismael Bachou assured them the report would be released after 14 days but until to-date, the report is still lying in PS Kumumanya’s office as CAO continues destroying and covering up pieces’ of evidences.
“We have from dependable impartial sources ascertained that former Adjumani CAO Oryono Grandfield has sent emissaries from Adjumani to PS Kumumanya to have the report swept under the carpet as the report in question is incriminating and may well lead to austere reprimand on copious high profile district officials if released”.
“We are not happy with the method of work of PS Kumumanya because he decided to transfer CAO Oryono to Butaleja district when we had a lot of implicating corroborations and rationales which we submitted to his office. It is a pity he elected to assign the immoral and fraud-laden CAO Oryono to another part of Uganda” Mr Amba continued.
He added that the officials of ADCA have tried to handle the matter with a lot of patience and discipline without reaching the temple of justice but it appears the PS Kumumanya has been trying their patience but the moment of truth has come.
The matter of the DRDIP With Holding Tax (WHT) was first brought to the attention of the CAO’s office on April 4, 2024, but it was out rightly rubbished and the contractors were threatened with court action over contentions of maligning CAO Oryno until the matter was conveyed to the consideration of Prime Minster Robina Nabanja and several line Ministers.
Kumumanya was consigned to handle the matter but 3 months down the road he has locked the unsigned copy of the report on DRDIP Tax fraud in his drawer and has refused to issue a statement to his effect.
The hapless and wretched ADCA officials tried following the matter through Adjumani woman MP Ababiku Jesca her efforts equally did not yield, she said attempts to reach the office of PS for interface also proved futile as he was on various occasions reported out of office for officials’ duty.
Adjumani woman MP Ababiku Jesca said indeed it is true the representatives of the contractors brought the complaint to her attention and she made follow-ups but it was difficult meeting the PS.
“I tried communicating to the PS through Commissioner Stephen Koma but the feedback I received was that the PS has not appended his signature on the report and this has made it difficult to proceed”. Hon.Ababiku explains.
Hon. Ababiku discloses that she had arranged with CAO Adjumani to write to PS Kumumanya requesting him to delegate a staff from the Ministry to come and issue a statement to the contractors on the report, CAO promptly complied in a letter dated July 29, 2024, but the meeting flopped because PS did not take action.
Occasioning the deadlock, the acrimonious contractors have now lined up strings of tactical strategies to ensure justice prevails but more crucial is the locking of all buildings under DRDIP sub-projects where Withholding Taxes have not been remitted to URA, according to Mr. Christopher Maiku the Secretary of ADCA.
“In view of that, 25 structures have been listed to be kept under lock and keys and these include, teachers’ quarters, classrooms blocks, markets structures, and office blocks among others”.
“And we have further resolved to institute legal actions against all the officials of DRDIP sub projects for conniving with former CAO Adjumani Mr. Oryono to defraud our cash meant for paying WHT because the contractors have signed contracts with Community Project management committees(CPMCs) not Adjumani district local government”.
The CPMC for the sub-project of the construction of Amuru primary school staff House in Pakele Sub County now faces litigation over failure to pay the contractor, Marinyo Brothers Limited a balance of shs 10m.
The CPMC secretary Ms Hilda Gloria Ekuo the head teacher of Amuru primary school has confessed to transferring shs 15m to the Adjumani district local government pool account on March 27, 2024, following intense pressure from the district DRDIP desk office.
The PS Kumumanya could not be reached by phone for a comment but a source close to his office told DailyExpress that he has not signed the report because it is shoddy and contains a lot of getouts (farcicalities) but it does not address the concerns of the offended contractors.
“A responsible officer has been assigned to Adjumani for a last-gasp investigation but the officer who has been slated to be in Adjumani today Monday, September 23, 2024, could not report because he has been taken sick. But will hopefully report on Wednesday to put patches to slack ends in the investigations”. The source disclosed.
Last week on September 18, 2024, the office of CAO convened a crisis meeting with selected CPMC officials to have them coerced to return pending cash in their account but the CPMCs defied the instructions having realized that the cash they transferred to the office of DRDIP desk Officer to be remitted to URA for Withholding Taxes was not channelled insisting they needed to attend a joint meeting with contractors so that all the controversial issues surrounding fraud in With Holding Tax can be sorted out together.
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