Three town agents attached to Kigumba town council in Kiryandongo district are in custody at the Kiryandongo central police station for alleged extortion.
The suspects have been identified as Timothy Mwesigwa, the town agent for ward A, John Ngambisha, the town agent for Ward B and Florence Korugendo, the town agent for Ward C all situated within Kigumba town Council.
They were arrested on Wednesday afternoon during an operation sanctioned by security in the district after several complaints were put against them.
The suspects allegedly extorted between 100,000 to 200,000 Ugandan Shillings from each individual seeking to benefit from the PDM program in Kigumba town council.
Jonathan Akweteireho, the Kiryandongo Deputy Resident District Commissioner-RDC states that, his office was compelled to launch investigations against the suspects after numerous complaints were put against them.
He says, one of the suspects was arrested read-handed extorting money from some of the residents intending to benefit from the Parish Development Model (PDM).
According to Akweteireho, his office is still investigating several leaders and politicians in the district for extortion and mismanagement of the PDM funds.
He says, once inquiries are through, the suspects who are currently detained at the Kiryandongo police station will be arraigned before court to be charged with extortion adding that their actions not only exploit the community but also hinder the effective implementation of the Parish Development Model.
In June, two people were arrested for allegedly extorting money from the beneficiaries of the Parish Development Model-PDM in Masindi district.
The suspects were identified as John Ayesiga, the Chairperson of Tukole Hamu PDM Group in Muramura Village, and Edward Irumba, the LC1 Chairperson for Muramura Village in Kitamba parish in Bwijanga sub-county.
They were accused of extorting 200,000 Shillings from each person seeking to benefit from the parish Development model-PDM.
President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni launched the Parish Development Model in Kibuku District to enhance job creation and address unemployment through various pillars such as financial inclusion, infrastructure development, and agricultural value chain enhancement.
The PDM program is designed to provide low-cost loans to beneficiaries for sustainable income-generating investments within their communities.
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