Why New Agago CAO Should Stop Using Tribalism Card to Shield His Corrupt Scandals; The Alur and Kakwa Have Co-Existed Peacefully for Long without Problems

By Whistleblower

Public service should be built on integrity, transparency, and accountability. Unfortunately, some individuals entrusted with leadership positions abuse their offices for personal gain, and when caught, they resort to diversionary tactics to escape justice. One such individual is former Koboko District Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) John Bosco Akera, whose corruption scandals are well-documented during his four years tenure as the CAO of Koboko District. Instead of answering for his misconduct, Akera is now desperately attempting to shield himself by falsely claiming that he is being persecuted on tribal grounds by the Kakwa because he is an Alur. The Alur and Kakwa are brothers and sisters who have coexisted peacefully for long without problems and they can’t go against each other over misconduct of one corrupt individual John Bosco Akera who is being demanded to account for his actions.

This desperate attempt to manipulate public opinion and distract the public from the real issues at hand must be outrightly and optimumly rejected. The people of Koboko District are not in anyway demanding transparency and accountability from Akera because he’s an Alur, but because of his blatant corruption, abuse of office, and mismanagement of public resources.

For the record, before Akera capitalizes on being fought on tribal grounds, he has been serving as CAO in Koboko District Local Government for the last 4 years why wasn’t there no staff uprising against him, is it because the staff hadn’t known that he’s an Alur?. Koboko District has had CAO’s who aren’t Kakwa by tribe including the current one and they have always related well with the district staff. Why only Akera?

Akera’s clear precedence of corruption, misconduct and abuse of office surprises no one. Before one is illusioned by Akera’s diversions of being fought on tribal grounds, it should be known that it was the same Alur people who demanded for the transfer of Akera from Nebbi District some years back where he served as the Assistant CAO over the same allegations of corruption and embezzlement of NUSAF Funds.

Before his transfer to Koboko District, Akera served as the CAO for Omoro District where he was at a bitter standoff with Omoro District Council over alleged mismanagement of close to 1 billion ugandan shillings meant for an administration block. Omoro District never gave him a soft ground for looting them and he was pressed until Omoro District Council requested the Ministry of Local Government to transfer him away and he was transferred to Koboko District where he never changed. Akera has always thrived on intimidation and arrogance as a defense mechanism to conceal his corrupt tendencies. Even while in Koboko, a number of times where I was around him, he was still quarreling with people from Omoro over being followed on alleged corruption issues.

To clear public skepticism on Akera’s desperate attempt of hiring mercenaries and bloggers to distract the public from the real issue, the following are just a few of the many documented cases that expose John Bosco Akera’s Corruption, misconduct and abuse of office.

Smuggling Cigarettes Using Koboko District Ambulance is one of the fascinating and most shocking scandles Akera thrived in during his four years in Koboko. His illicit schemes came to spotlight when the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) intercepted the ambulance at the Pakwach checkpoint. Instead of allowing justice to take its course, Akera actively facilitated the escape of the driver from lawful custody and later reinstated him in his position. If Akera was truly innocent, why did he interfere with a legal process? Was this a case of tribal victimization, or it was blatant corruption?

Interference and intimidation of Koboko District Service Commission where as the CAO and the district accounting officer, Akera was expected to uphold fairness in the recruitment of government employees. However, he grossly abused his powers by bypassing the recruitment process and issuing appointment letters to seven individuals without the approval of the District Service Commission. When this fraud was discovered, the appointees were interrogated and removed from the payroll. Again, where does tribalism come in here? Did the recruitment process target him as an Alur, or was he simply engaging in corruption?

Nepotism and Employment of His Girlfriend. John Bosco Akera shamelessly exploited his position to employ his girlfriend, Mrs. Adokorach Gloria who was a married Woman, who at the same time was working with Yumbe District Local Government and with an NGO in Angal Hospital, Nebbi District. Without due process, she was added to Koboko District’s payroll as a nurse and started earning salaries while absconding from duty not until the girlfriend was netted by State House Anti-Corruption Unit and IGG. He also went ahead and received a huge bribe from a lady called Colleta Jesca, whom he gave an appointment letter without the knowledge of the Koboko District Service Commission and the lady is on the run from the investigating agencies on ground. This was not only fraudulent but also deprived hardworking and deserving Ugandans of job opportunities. Was her arrest an act of tribal discrimination, or was it because of their corrupt scheme?

The greedy Akera has always been on the spotlight for sleeping with people’s women in the names of giving them jobs in the district, including ferrying “religious women” from Arua and Nebbi to sleep with. How does such unprofessionalism and misconduct tantamount to tribalism. I have seen instances where he has manipulated these women.

Illegal Awarding of Contracts to Incompetent Companies owned by some district staff. John Bosco Akera connived with some district staff and individually awarded government contracts to unqualified staff owned companies for their own personal benefit. A glaring example is the contract for Busia Market, which was given to a company owned by a district staff. This company failed to remit 17 million Ugandan shillings in government revenue, leading to financial losses for the district. This is clear-cut corruption. How does tribalism come into play here? If anything, this was a case of two corrupt individuals enriching themselves at the expense of the people.

Embezzlement of Funds Under the Irrigation Project funded by Ministry of agriculture, animal industry and fisheries. The Ministry of Agriculture financed an irrigation project for farmers in Koboko District, with each selected beneficiary supposed to receive a standard irrigation system. However, Akera and his allies embezzled these funds, and farmers ended up receiving substandard systems valued at less the proposed budget. The inconsistencies in the financial records were clear proof of embezzlement. Is exposing this scandal an act of tribal persecution, or is it an effort to demand accountability?

Refusal to Pay Rent for Government Apartments. In 2022, the Koboko District Council passed a resolution to construct apartments for revenue generation, with a set monthly rental fee of 300,000 Ugandan shillings per room. The corrupt CAO John Bosco Akera arrogantly manipulated the process and allocated himself a room out of the apartment but deliberately and arrogantly refused to pay rent for 32 months. As a result, the district is still demanding 9.6 million Ugandan shillings from him. How does this theft relate to tribal victimization? He is simply refusing to be accountable for his corrupt actions, so how does Kakwa and Alur feature here?

As corrupt and arrogant as he is, Akera has been at loggerheads with some district councilors since 2022 and these are councilors whom he failed to manipulate and bribe to support his corruption schemes. These are district councilors who have always stood against his corruption, probed him in council sessions and would openly demand accountability from Akera, He has been so arrogant and disrespectful to them to the extent he called the councilors stupid while on Spirit FM and started intimidating the councilors to the point he physically assaulted and fought a district councilor, went ahead orchestrating the suspension of four district councilors on unjustified grounds by the district speaker. Akera’s greed has never made him to relate well with colleagues in any workplace he has ever been.

It must also be known to the public that it’s Akera’s Corruption and mismanagement of district funds that has also stalled the progress of construction of Koboko District Hospital.

These are some of the a few cases where Akera has seen that the hunt on him and his likes by the State House Anti-Corruption Unit and the IGG is insurmountable, Instead of answering for these serious corruption allegations, John Bosco Akera has resorted to playing the tribal card to seek public sympathy through hiring mercenaries and bloggers to divert the public from the reality. As if that’s not enough, Akera has gone ahead questioning the integrity and transparency of the State House Anti-Corruption Unit and the Inspectorate of Government (IGG) of bias portraying a classic tactic used by corrupt individuals to divert attention from their crimes.

If Akera is truly innocent and thinks he is being fought on tribal grounds, he should allow investigations to take their course without diversion since the law is clear that; if he has done nothing wrong, he will be vindicated. However, his attempts to manipulate and divert the public from the real issue at hand and discredit the integrity of State House Anti-Corruption and the IGG suggest that he has something to hide.

Akera must stop hiding behind tribalism and take responsibility for his blatant corruption scandles. The people of Koboko District are demanding justice, not because of his ethnicity, but because he has betrayed their trust by mismanaging public resources.

Instead of panicking around and crying foul, Akera should focus on clearing his name through legal means. Corruption has no tribe, and accountability is not selective. If he believes he is innocent, let him face the authorities and defend himself with facts, not baseless accusations.

The people of Koboko District deserve honest and transparent leadership. The fight against corruption will continue, and no amount of propaganda will stop justice from prevailing.

As a staff of Koboko District Local Government, I am happy with the step Anti-Corruption bodies have taken investigate Akera and his cronies, I am okay with his transfer because Akera used to over intimidate us as staff. The public must know that Akera is not the only staff being probed, there are over 17 staff members of Koboko District being investigated, others under interdiction already.

Therefore, I ask Ministry of Local Government and Ministry of Public Service to stop transferring unprofessional officers like Akera from one district to another only to continue looting the government.

The writer is a whistleblower.