The Fort Portal city Town clerk – Moses Otimong, has interdicted Pamela Kirungi, the senior finance officer of Fort Portal tourism city, over incompetence in extraction of her duties as an accounting officer.
Kirungi’s interdiction follows the ongoing investigation by Police and the State House Anti-Corruption Unit over abuse of office and finance mismanagement.
In June, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Local Government, Ben Kumumanya directed the Fort portal city Town Clerk to interdict Thomas Raboni, the Fort Portal North Division Town Clerk and Pamela Kirungi, the Fort Portal City Senior Accountant for alleged financial management.
It is alleged, that Kirungi wrongfully transferred a capitation grant worth 180 million shillings meant for secondary schools to other institutions like the Fort portal school of clinic officers and Canon Apollo Core PTC and Central Division operations which disadvantaged secondary schools as they could not implement their planned activities.
In September 2021, Pamela also failed to advise the North Division accounting officer on the irregular borrowing of UGX 21.9 Million from payments made and processed from the Fort Portal lorry park driver’s association and China Wu. YI company ltd in the month of June 2021 hence the criminal investigations directorate in the liaison of state house anti-corruption unit Vide ACU/GEF/O96/2022 on alleged abuse of office embezzlement and causing financial loss to Fort portal city.
However, the City Town Clerk, Moses Otimong delayed enforcing the Minister’s directives on grounds that he had not received written instructions apart from seeing the letter on social media. Otimong said that he was yet to receive the PS’s letter instructing him to interdict the two officers.
On August 2, 2022, Asaba Edson Ruyonga the Fort City Mayor wrote a letter to the City Clerk explaining that in spite of having received a copy of the letter from the Permanent secretary of the local government in June directing the interdiction of Pamela and others from duty, he had reliable information that the letters never reached the files of the accused persons.
In the letter seen by our reporter dated 08th August 2022 addressed to the Senior accounting officer, Otimong has issued an interdiction letter indicating that basing on the public standing orders rules and regulation reg. 38 Kirungi is interdicted from duty with effect from 5th August to allow investigations into in issues related to diversion of funds, incompetence conspiracy to defraud and causing financial loss to government.
