Mr Reagan Okumu, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Aswa County in Gulu District has been cleared by the office of the Inspector General of Government (IGG) of any wrongdoing in the theft of hand hoes meant for residents of Gulu municipality.
In her letter dated September 1, 2015, and copied to Mr George Labeja, the Gulu Municipality Mayor, Mr Christopher Acire, the MP for Gulu Municipality and Mr Reagan Okumu, the MP for Aswa County, Ms Irene Mulyagonja, the IGG says their investigations do not show that MP Okumu has stolen the 500 hoes.
Part of the letter reads, ‘As Chairman of Acholi Parliamentary Group, he (Okumu) decided to collect the hoes and delivered them to the Mayor Gulu Municipality so that Gulu Municipality residents do not miss out on the opportunity.’
According to the IGG’s letter, the hoes were delivered and are being safely kept.
Mayor Labeja confirmed receiving the copy of the IGG’s letter on Friday last week and said he will on Wednesday this week personally hand over the hoes to MP Acire or any person that the MP will entrust.
He acknowledged that the hoes are being kept at the Gulu Municipal Council stores under lock and key waiting to be picked by the area Member of Parliament.
However, MP Okumu could not be reached for a comment as he is reportedly in the United States.
In July this year, the Gulu Municipality MP alleged that his counterpart for Aswa County Okumu picked 500 hoes from the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) meant for Gulu municipality residents but never delivered them to his office.
MP Acire claims that, “Okumu picked the items without receiving instructions from me. I am now demanding that the farm implements be delivered to me without any conditions.”
The matter was later reported to Kyambogo Police Station as theft.
MP Okumu admitted picking the hoes but said he picked them as the Chairperson of Acholi Parliamentary Group (APG).
He explained that the reason why he did not deliver the farm implements supply to Acire is simply because there is no guarantee that they will be handed over to the rightful beneficiaries.
“In the past, Acire received a similar donation from the OPM but it is unclear who received the hoes,” The lawmaker claims.
Recently, residents held a demonstration in protest of the alleged stolen hoes by the Aswa County legislator.
Under Peace Recovery and Development Plan (PRDP) relief supplies, the OPM procured and supplied 58, 500 hoes to Members of Parliament from Greater North.
