Kole District, Uganda – The Inspectorate of Government (IGG) has frozen the bank account of Kole District Engineer, Emmanuel Okello, after he failed to repay the full amount of 43 million UGX in road funds, which IGG investigations found to be unaccounted for.
In a public notice issued by the IGG in 2023, individuals directed to refund monies arising from their investigations were named.
Emmanuel Okello, the Kole District Engineer, was among the top officials mentioned and was required to deposit 43 million UGX into the IGG Asset Recovery Account at the Bank of Uganda.
It has been established that the IGG recently intensified recovery efforts and, upon verification, discovered that the Kole engineer had made no payments to the IGG coffers. Following a series of engagements, he committed to paying the money. However, as of last week, he had only refunded 15 million UGX, not the full amount. This led to his bank account being frozen.
This action prevents him from withdrawing any funds from his account, including his salary. It remains to be seen whether he will comply with these directives or if the IGG will move to recover the outstanding refunds directly from his bank account.
Kole North MP, Hon. Dr. Samuel Opio Acuti, says he will write to the IGG requesting that a portion of the recovered funds be disbursed to the Kole North constituency to address road issues.
He also hopes that the Minister for Local Government will take further action during her planned meeting with Kole District leaders, rescheduled for February 24, 2025.
Efforts to reach Deputy IGG Dr. Patricia Acan Okiria and the IGG spokesperson were unsuccessful, as they did not answer repeated phone calls by press time.
When contacted at 2:19 PM on Monday, February 28, 2025, Engineer Emmanuel Okello told our reporter by phone that he was “not aware of any information that his account has been frozen.”
