The former Nwoya District Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) who is currently serving as CAO of Obongi District, Andrew Leru has returned over Ugx30million that he had swindled from Parish Development Model (PDM) funds.
Leru returned the money from Arua Police Station following his arrest by the PDM Secretariat officials in conjunction with Arua Police.
According to Jovrine Kaliisa Kyomukama, the PDM Deputy National Coordinator, the funds which had been misappropriated by Leru were meant for the PDM project implementation in Nwoya District at his time as the CAO.
“The money that had been stolen by Leru who was the CAO of Nwoya at that time was meant to implement the project activities in the district. So I came here for that operation to recover the money worth Shs30m, and Am glad we have recovered the money for the people of Nwoya district. We shall even arrest more culprits,” Kalisa said.
Leru who admitted to have embezzled the money said that the funds were meant for administrative costs in the implementation of the project activities during the financial year 2021/22 but there was an oversight in his part in regards to the revolving fund.
“The money was meant for the implementation of PDM activities during the financial year 2021/2022 but there was an omission on my part and this money is supposed to be for the revolving fund. So I had to pay to set an example to the rest and make things right,” he said.
In 2022, an internal audit was carried out in Nwoya District and it was revealed that Ugx 170 Million out of Ugx417million the district had received in the financial year 2021/22 for the PDM project had been swindled.
The Parish Development Model (PDM) was initiated in 2021 by President Yoweri Museveni as a strategy for organizing and delivering public and private sector interventions for wealth creation and employment generation at the parish level as the lowest economic planning unit.