Seven corrupt officials from the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) are said to be in negotiation with a yet-to-be identified official from the IGG’s office for their release. The officials in question were arraigned on June 14th, 2023, before the Anti-Corruption Court in Kololo by the Inspectorate of Government (IGG) on charges of; causing financial loss, embezzlement, and abuse of office.
According to credible sources aware of the IGG probe, one long-serving Kampala male MP has sought a high female official to arrange a deal on behalf of the OPM personnel. The male MP, who is acquainted with the IGG official, is reported to have offered her UGX 800 million in exchange for the IGG dropping the charges against the OPM employees, allowing them to return to their offices with the promise of repaying the money in five years.
“The staff of OPM, including the Ag. Permanent Secretary, Mr. Geoffrey Seremba, are willing to mobilize the money for the IGG official if it can guarantee their freedom and a return to the posh OPM offices,” the source stated.
Mr. Geoffrey Seremba, the Under Secretary/Finance and Administration, who has been the Accounting Officer and is currently working as the Acting Permanent Secretary, is on the run to avoid conviction.
“There is a lot of frustration among the officials because this kind of deal upsets all the steps taken to fight corruption within the government,” the source added.
According to sources, this would be the second time IGG has bargained with offenders and left them in their office, as it did with the Ministry of Agriculture when a small staff shared UGX 9 billion for running agricultural institutes during the COVID-19 lockdown.
The officials, Geoffrey Seremba, Deogratius Masagazi, Tonny Ameny, Joshua Abaho, Ms. Barbara Asasira, Samuel Ofungi, and Peter Amodoi, shared UGX 5 billion for the development of Karamoja.
The office of the prime minister has been riddled with scandals for the past few months, were it came under fire for diverting iron sheets meant for the Karamojong.
However, according to reports, government officials are aware of the agreement and are actively searching for the IGG official to put an end to the corruption.