PDM Chaos: Gulu Leaders in Hot Soup for Mismanaging Funds

(Gulu) – It seems Gulu City got hit by a storm in the land of SACCOs, where community trust is supposed to reign supreme. Four bosses running savings and credit cooperative organisations (SACCOs) have landed themselves in the infamous halls of Gulu City East Police division. Their crime? Allegedly swindling Parish Development Model (PDM) funds.

The suspects, including Samuel Oyat, the town agent for Obiya-Laroo ward, Emmanuel Opiyo, an IT assistant (because who else would know how to fiddle with a database?), Lillian Oyella Sunday, the treasurer of the PDM SACCO, and Alex Ojera, the PDM SACCO chairperson, are now cooling off in police custody. What did they do? Well, according to disgruntled locals, they seem to have taken the whole “share and care” mantra of SACCOs a little too far—distributing Parish Development Model cash in ways that left many feeling like they were attending a bisanja (land redistribution) party without an invite.

Locals are crying foul, accusing these SACCO bosses of everything from name removal shenanigans to distributing less money than promised. It seems the only people getting rich around here are the ones in charge. In fact, some beneficiaries were left wondering if their names had been hijacked by ghosts, or if they were dealing with a modern day version of kubanja (eviction), but this time from the beneficiaries’ list.

For example, some unfortunate souls like Sunday Ayella, Geoffrey Okeny, and Thomas Otim only received a humble 200,000 Ugandan shillings, far from the expected 1 million. Now, for those of you keeping track at home, that’s like going to the market for a full basket of groceries and returning with just a single onion. You can imagine the disappointment.

And then there’s Thomas Otim, whose wife was handed just 200,000 shillings of the promised 1 million. The explanation? Apparently, the rest was “appreciation.” What exactly was being appreciated is anyone’s guess, but in Uganda, we know that when someone says “appreciation,” it usually means the money has found a new home.

One of the more eyebrow raising moments of this scandal involves IT assistant Emmanuel Opiyo, who allegedly hacked into the PDM database and began doing what all rogue IT personnel seem to love—altering beneficiary names. It’s one thing to forget your password, but it’s a whole new level of drama when the person with the password starts playing God.

Even Samuel Oyat, the town agent, didn’t want to be left out of this money grabbing fiesta. He allegedly registered his wife, Jacqueline Akello, as a beneficiary, even though she’s from Lacor, a nearby area that had nothing to do with the PDM funds. It’s almost like trying to smuggle a boda boda into a footrace—completely out of place and rather obvious.

Doreen Atoo, chairperson of the vetting committee, who probably wished she could reverse time and catch the culprits in action. According to her, the chairperson (Alex Ojera) had too much control over the funds, which is code for “there’s no one checking the till.”

Oscar Akena, the area councillor, couldn’t sit back and let this drama play out like a poorly written TV series. He took it upon himself to report the matter to the city authorities, bringing in the big guns—Deputy Gulu Resident City Commissioner Peter Banya. Banya wasted no time in ordering the police to investigate how Opiyo managed to manipulate the PDM database.

It’s not the first time Gulu City’s SACCOs have made headlines for all the wrong reasons. Last year, a similar scandal rocked the city when Nixon Komakech Atemo, the Gulu city commercial officer, was nabbed over mismanagement of PDM funds. It seems Gulu’s SACCOs have more skeletons in the closet than a haunted house.

The PDM programme, which was intended to be a lifeline for the people of Uganda, has now become a classic example of how not to handle development funds. The Internal Security Organisation (ISO) even had to step in earlier this year by launching an application to monitor PDM beneficiaries, but even the best apps can’t stop those determined to play tricks with the system.

The police have now urged all complainants to cooperate and provide any information they might have. With the spotlight now on the culprits, the only question left is whether they’ll be held accountable—or if this will become just another scandal swept under the carpet, like a Matooke peeling after lunch.