Two officials of Bugiri district local government, Steven Kakaire, a staff member at the probations office and Salim Masaba, a pensions officer have Thursday been arrested by a team of UPDF personnel attached to the Chieftaincy of Military intelligence for fraudulently processing and stealing the gratuity benefits of the late Francis Emolit.
The CMI officers whisked away the suspects but declined to disclose where they were detaining them.
It is reported that Emolit, a UPDF warrant officer at the time and resident of Ojyerero village in Kapelebyong district passed away in 2012, but to date, his family members have failed to access his gratuity nor pension, prompting them to file a complaint at the UPDF headquarters.
It is reported that the two suspects falsified documents and acquired 47 million Shillings gratuity from the force in 2013.
The duo was reportedly withdrawing 400,000 Shillings on behalf of Emolit's family on a monthly basis and dividing it between themselves.
According to Stella Asio the deceased's wife, all the avenues to process her late husband's benefits from the force had been frustrated for the past 10 years, until early this year's nationwide UPDF pensioners' verification exercise, which established that the documented beneficiaries did not tally with the registered deceased's family members.
Ramadthan Walugembe, the Bugiri resident district commissioner, says that the suspects were close friends of Emolit, which accorded them easy access to the deceased's personal information.
