WE ARE COMING FOR YOU! Gen Damulira Puts PDM Cash Thieves on Notice as 300+ Arrested

PDM thieves have been put on notice!

The long arm of the law is coming for anyone who dipped their hands into money meant to lift poor Ugandans out of poverty, with the Director of Crime Intelligence, AIGP Major General Christopher Damulira, telling suspects to surrender to Police before detectives catch up with them.

Damulira issued the chilling warning during a week-long review of the Police-led Operation Rejesha Tumaini, the crackdown targeting individuals accused of stealing or mismanaging Parish Development Model (PDM) funds.

His message was blunt: if you touched PDM money illegally, your days are numbered.

“Report yourselves to Police before we come for you,” Damulira warned those involved in the alleged theft and abuse of the programme.

The General was speaking during PDM operation review meetings in Eastern Uganda attended by Resident City and District Commissioners, Internal Security Officers, Regional Police Commanders, prosecutors from the Directorate of Public Prosecutions, LCV chairpersons, mayors and senior officers from CID and Crime Intelligence.

The meetings were held at the Civil Service College for the Busoga Region, Mt Elgon Hotel for the Bugisu and Sebei regions and Soroti University for the Teso and Karamoja regions.

The crackdown follows President Yoweri Museveni’s directive last month to Inspector General of Police Abbas Byakagaba to act on intelligence reports of widespread abuse of PDM funds.

The reports allegedly implicated government officials, including some Parish Chiefs, in schemes involving ghost beneficiaries, unlawful deductions and extortion, among other forms of fraud.

Following the directive, Byakagaba ordered Damulira and the Director of Criminal Investigations, AIGP Tom Magambo, to launch Operation Rejesha Tumaini and hunt down those suspected of stealing PDM money.

And the operation appears to be gathering momentum.

Police say more than 300 suspects have so far been arrested and taken to court by specialised teams from CID and Crime Intelligence headquarters working alongside the Internal Security Organisation, DPP and Resident District Commissioners.

Damulira spent the week touring Eastern Uganda to assess the operation and coordinate the different agencies involved in the crackdown.

He praised the security and justice agencies for what he described as excellent coordination, saying their cooperation had contributed to the arrests and prosecution of the suspects.

But the operation is far from over.

Damulira directed the teams to keep the hunt going until every person who illegally touched PDM money is identified, arrested and brought before court.

The warning is likely to send shivers down the spines of officials and programme managers who may have benefited from alleged manipulation of PDM funds.