Former Gulu Parish Chiefs who claim to have been erroneously dismissed from service by Gulu District Local Government in 2002 are demanding for 4.277 billion in compensation.
The Parish Chiefs were laid off during a restructuring program to weed out those without the requisite academic qualifications.
The ex-chiefs went to court in 2002 demanding for 4.1 billion shillings in unpaid pension, gratuities and damages and 290.212 million shillings in legal costs.
In a 2012 ruling, Justice Remmy Kasule awarded the former employees of Gulu district a total of 2 billion shillings on the ground that procedure was not followed when the civil servants were being laid off.
But since court made the ruling, Gulu district has only paid the former parish chiefs 451,000,000 shilling.
Now the ex- Chiefs are demanding for the remaining balance of their money. Their Chairman Omach Okwera says the last payment—451 million shillings– was made to them in July last year.
Mr Okwera accuses Gulu district of not honouring the court ruling as a result many of his former colleagues have died without getting their pay. According to Okwera, 22 of the 89 former Parish Chiefs have died since the 2012 court ruling.
Through their lawyers, Shamim Amollo of Amollo & Co. Advocates and Ngobi & Co. Advocates, the ex- Parish Chiefs are demanding for 451.3 million shillings on principal and a total of 290.2 on accounts of costs. This brings the total cost to 4,277,500, 534 due to accrued interests.
The ex-chiefs are also demanding that on failure to pay them, Dorothy Ajwang, the Gulu Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) and, Jane Lamony, the Chief Finance Officer (CFO) should be arrested and committed to prison.
Henry Twinomuhezi, the Assistant Registrar for Gulu High Court put the hearing of the case for 31 October 2016.
