Sulah Bazalaki who allegedly defrauded Parish Development Model (PDM) beneficiaries in Namayingo before evading arrest is finally in the hands of police.
Bazalaki was captured from a hideout in the neighbouring district of Mayuge after three weeks of being hunted by the police on the orders of Namayingo Deputy RDC, Trevor Solomon Baleke.
He joins his accomplice, Matiya Wapatiti who was arrested last month.
The duo landed into trouble when Mr. Baleke ordered their arrest after receiving numerous complaints against them.
The DRDC who led a district PDM monitoring team that moved to different parishes to ensure the government initiative aimed at alleviating poverty is implemented according to the guidelines was shocked by the reports against Matiya Wapatiti and Sulah Bazalaki in Madowa Parish, Buswaalwe sub-county.
Community members informed the team that Wapatiti, being an active member of the Madowa PDM Buswaale SACCO vetting committee connived with Bazalaki who used his expertise and fradulently transferred money from their (beneficiaries’) phones to their personal mobile money accounts.
It was discovered that at least 2,090,000 shillings was allegedly stolen by the duo from the unsuspecting PDM beneficiaries.
“As I told you last month that Bazalaki would by all means be arrested, now I can confirm that we have him in custody. Any official who touches PDM money, shall pay for his deeds,” he warned.
“Sulah Bazalaki has been running a Forex pay point, and Wapatiti is a member of the SACCO vetting committee. The beneficiaries trusted them since they were very instrumental in the whole process. So when money landed on peoples’ accounts, these two suspects used their expertise and withdrew part of the money using the beneficiaries’ phones,” said Baleke.
The Eye Media Uganda has established that at least 7 statements have already been recorded against the duo and that the file is ready for perusal by the DPP.
