Kasama District Commissioner Lieutenant Colonel Steven Chanda has ordered some public workers who illegally got allowances for monitoring the Chisanga Clinic project to immediately pay back the money or risk being prosecuted for theft.
Lt. Col. Chanda issued the order in Kasama during a District Development Coordinating Committee (DDCC) meeting after he learnt that some members of the Planning Sub-committee had allegedly received allowances while monitoring progress on the construction of Chisanga Clinic.
He noted that it was wrong for the civil servants, who receive salaries, to demand for allowances from funds meant for a community project.
The DC also expressed sadness that the public officers decided to deprive vulnerable people of Chisanga Village money meant to construct a Clinic and a road by claiming for unnecessary allowances.
Lt. Col. Chanda, who withheld names of the affected officers, however urged them to quickly return the money before the matter is reported to the police for action.
The departments that form the Planning Sub-Committee under the DDCC include Health, Chambeshi Water and Sewerage Company, and Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives.
Others are Kasama Municipal Council, Young Women Christian Association (YWCA), Water Affairs, District HIV/AIDS Taskforce, and Buildings respectively
Meanwhile, some members of DDCC have called for the immediate arrest of the officers implicated in the financial scandal in order to save as a deterrent to others with intentions to abuse public resources.
They said it would be unfair to allow the culprits to escape prosecution by only refunding the money they got illegally when they knew that their action was tantamount to theft.
The members have since urged the District Commissioner to urgently report the affected officers to the police for investigations and if found with a case to answer they be prosecuted.
Bwana DC before you take any actions find time to read the guidelines regarding that project. Don’t rush into asking people to pay back the money minus carring your own investigation. For sure there should be money for monitoring and evaluation and those people must have been meeting hence the allowances paid out. What I can see here is petty jelous from other members of the DDCC who did not benefit. Anyway, not all should benefit as you all belong to different committees.
Bwana DC ba Lt col who has never fought in any battle? expect for exercising your rank ku mess na kushipoto? if we were to audit your books…how clean are you?
DDCC please shade more light on this issue more especially on allowances. Tell us, is the DC RIGHT?