BY OKIDI PATRICK
The State House Anti-Corruption Unit (SH-ACU) has arraigned four Manafwa District local government and SACCO officials before the Manafwa Chief Magistrates Court on charges of theft and conspiracy to commit a felony.
The suspects are accused of extorting beneficiaries and mismanaging funds under the government’s flagship Parish Development Model (PDM) poverty alleviation program. [1, 2]
The accused officials have been identified as:
- Wanzala Samuel – Commercial Officer and PDM Focal Person, Manafwa District
- Kashake Michael – Community Development Officer (CDO), Bukoma Sub-county
- Nelima Harriet – Treasurer, Buwanzala PDM SACCO
- Kisaka Fred – Parish Chief, Busangayi I Village
State prosecution alleges that in December 2025, while in Buwanzala, Manafwa District, the four officials, along with others still at large, conspired to defraud and steal Shs 8 million belonging to the Buwanzala PDM SACCO and its intended beneficiaries.
The court heard that the suspects took advantage of their administrative positions to divert funds meant to lift local subsistence households into the money economy.
The four accused persons denied the charges before the Chief Magistrate. They were denied bail and subsequently remanded to prison until June 10, 2026, pending further mention and hearing of their case.
The Crackdown Intensifies
The arrests are part of an ongoing countrywide crackdown on local government technocrats and SACCO executives accused of sabotaging the PDM.
The Unit, working closely with the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), reiterated that PDM funds are entirely free to access. The State House has warned that no official is permitted to charge or solicit money from citizens for registration or disbursement.
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