Story by Osuta Yusuf.
Maracha District.
The LC3 Chairperson for Awiziru Sub-county, Hon Saul Abiriga has written a two-page letter demanding for Apology from one of our Journalist who investigated and published a story on 25-10-2024 about Parish Development Model (PDM) money, where he allegedly took away 900,000 Shs in 2022 from a 75-Years-Old disabled and barren mzee called Andrua Simon he helped to register into Parish development model sacco group of Magoba Enterprise Sacco group in Oluvu Parish, Awiziru Sub-county, Maracha Constituency, Maracha District.
The article written and published on 25-10-2024 which the LC3 Chairperson is complaining about 👇
Awiziru LC3 Allegedly Deceives Disabled Elderly Man, Takes PDM Money
Click on the link to read it.
From the investigations, the LC3 Chairperson for Awiziru Sub-county, a one, Hon Saul Abiriga went to the home of 75-years-old mzee Andrua Simon whom he helped to enroll in PDM sacco group, took him to take passport photographs and days later they went to Arua City to withdraw 900,000 Shs from the bank, upon which, the LC3 Chairperson allegedly took all the money without giving a penny to the beneficiary.
Through a letter written on Monday 28-10-2024 and submitted to all the relevant offices (UCC, RDC, LC5, DPC, DISO, CAO) in Maracha District on Tuesday 29-10-2024, the LC3 Chairperson for Awiziru Sub-county Hon Saul Abiriga accused a Journalist, Osuta Yusuf for allegedly using news companies and blog site to run a bias and defamatory story aimed at tainting his reputation, character and destroying the relationship with his voters in Awiziru Sub-county.
“The story constitutes blatant falsehood, designed to mislead, calculated to implant in the minds of the public and tarnishes my good image, reputation, character assassinate and discredit my service life”, reads part of the statement in Awiziru Sub-county LC3 Chairperson’s two-page letter addressed to Journalist Osuta Yusuf and copied to all the government offices.
Hon Saul Abiriga continued to state in his letter that, “I do hereby demand an apology published in the national newspapers, and on local radios within WestNile run for 7 days in the prime news bulletins and retraction of the misleading story. Failure to comply within 7 days, I will be taking any and all legal remedies available to rectify the situation”.
Via a telephone call interview on Tuesday evening, 29-10-2024, with the Awiziru Sub-county LC3 Chairperson Hon Saul Abiriga, who confirmed writing a letter addressed to Osuta Yusuf and copied to government departments, he accused the Journalist of writing a biased and defamatory story that has killed his political career.
“All the campaigns I engaged in to make sure I become an LC3 Chairperson have been in vain because of a Journalist who published a story that has painted me as a bad person, and even many people in my Sub-county are now calling me a thief”, – says Hon Saul Abiriga as he further stated that, these days he is restless because CIDs from Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI) and other Intelligence operatives from Kampala that are calling and following him over the PDM Money scandal.
Hon Obitre Stephen, the LC5 Chairperson for Maracha District whom we also contacted for an interview via a telephone call on Tuesday 6 pm 29-10-2024 over the letter written by Awiziru Sub-county stating that, his office has received the letter addressed to Osuta Yusuf as a Journalist, in which the complainant is threatening for legal action over the alleged defamatory story.
The LC5 Chairperson who confirmed Hon Saul Abiriga indeed took the 900,000 Shs PDM money from the disabled and barren mzee Andrua Simon in 2022, blamed the LC3 Chairperson for delaying all these years to release the money to mzee Andrua until a news had to go viral against him
