Members of Parliament (MP) from Acholi sub region are in a heated disagreement over 500 hand hoes that were donated by Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) to farmers in Gulu Municipality through their parliamentary representatives.
It is alleged that in mid June this year, the Aswa County MP Reagan Okumu picked the hoes from the OPM on behalf of his counterpart for Gulu Municipality Mr Christopher Acire but never delivered it.
On Monday, close to 20 residents from the suburbs of Gulu town held a demonstration in protest of the alleged stolen hoes.
Led by Mr Walter Odong, the former LC 3Chairperson for Layibi Division, they accused the Aswa County MP Okumu for ill-intention towards voters in Gulu Municipality.
Odong said, “Even if Okumu had problems with his Gulu Municipality counterpart Acire, he should not have picked the hoes which were meant for electorates of Gulu Municipality.”
They denounced Okumu’s action and demanded that the said hoes be handover to their MP with immediate effect.
MP Acire claims that Okumu picked the items without consulting him.
According to Acire, each of the 17 legislators from the Acholi sub region received 500 hand hoes but it is only him who missed out after Okumu confiscated his share of the donation under unclear reasons.
He is now demanding that the farm implements be delivered to him without any conditions since it was not the Aswa County legislator who procured them.
The matter has so far been reported to Kyambogo Police Station in Kampala as theft.
Mr Samuel Odonga-Otto, the Aruu County MP also faulted Okumu for keeping what is not his.
“There is no reason why his colleague should keep the hoes for that long without stating the reason why he is doing so,” He said.
MP Okumu admitted picking the hoes and said he picked them as the Chairperson of Acholi Parliamentary Group (APG).
“I did not deliver the farm implements to Achire simply because there is no guarantee that they will be handed over to the rightful beneficiaries” He explained.
The lawmaker from Aswa claims that in the past, Acire received a similar donation from OPM but it is unclear who received the hoes.
“I will distribute the hoes myself to the beneficiaries within Gulu Municipality,” Okumu said.
