Received via Pat. -------------------------- Clear the Rot before we storm state house –Mapenduzi to Museveni Gulu district chairman Ojara Martine Mapenduzi has given the president 2 weeks ultimatum to sort the mess with missing funds over Acholi war debt claimants claim before he can lead the claimants to state house. Addressing the press at Northern Uganda Media Club, Mapenduzi expressed concern over the manner in which rightful claimants have been tossed at the expense of the big wigs in government at the expense of the most poor in the region. According to Mapenduzi, Acholi War Debt Claimants Association took government to court in 2006 seek ing compensation for their property and animals cause by the war in northern Uganda. In subsequent retaliation the government in 2009 released 5 billion shilling for the war claimants but the money was grossly mismanaged. “Kampala Associates Advocates alone bugged 500 million as legal fees a cost the chairman says is gross abuse of the purpose of the funds, 900 million shillings remains unaccounted for according to an internal document from Acholi War Debt Claimants” mapenduzi said Acholi War Claimants Association is run in an illusion of total secrecy with no defined beneficiary list as top ministers and politicians are behind the huge misappropriation of the funds. Mapenduzi alleges that he discussed a better option of having beneficiaries benefit from the fund directly by money being wired to their account but this has yielded no fruit as the vast part of the money remains in Kampala as soon as it’s released. It is on this ground that the chairman threatened with a two weeks ultimatum for the government to have the issues addressed if not he will personally mobilize the elders from Gulu and walk to meet the President in Kampala.- Mapenduzi stressed. He stressed that the leaders of the association have become untouchable and non-compliant to the call of district officials to account for the previous disbursement. “Every time we question the leadership of Acholi War Debt Claimants over accountability, we get threatening letters from Kampala Associates Advocate, a law firm representing the debt claimants” This is worrying as the real claimants who have been waiting for years have been left out and traded with political interest. In concluding remarks Mapenduzi, state that the war claimants association has since 2009 received 3 billion shillings from government but have not accounted for 1.2 billion shillings.
Posted on: Thu, 11 Dec 2014 18:38:56 +0000
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