Criminal charges against the mayor of Chaparral for corruption

Through a delegate from the Public Administration Unit, the Attorney General's Office charged the current mayor of Chaparral, Hugo Fernando Arce, for alleged irregularities detected in the food kit contract during the pandemic.

He is charged with the crime of concluding contracts without complying with legal requirements when acquiring 1500 kg for vulnerable families in that municipality in 2019, for a value of $119,730,000.

According to the investigation carried out by the entity, Hugo performing his function entered into contract number 103 on April 3, 2020 with the company FEZ Ingeniería, within the framework of Decree 000024 of March 19, 2019, which declared the public calamity and manifest urgency of the town caused by covid-19.

The staff member apparently did not take into account the fact that the corporate purpose of the contracted entity was related to the object of the contract being signed and the impact of this on the price offered.

The Prosecutor's Office also ruled that it was not verified whether the company had the financial, organic, and personnel capacity necessary to develop it, which led to the municipal administration paying $28,190,265 more than the amount initially established for the supply of nutritional kits.

The next hearing will be an indictment.

Unless you want to be involved in criminal proceedings, the governor of Norte de Santander, Silvano Serrano Guerrero, was given 48 hours to set a new date for the recall of the mayor of Cúcuta, Jairo Yañez, which has been postponed since January of this year.

According to the news program Oriente Noticias, on the regional television channel TRO, the Eighth Administrative Court of the Cúcuta Circuit ruled in favor of the guardianship brought by citizen Saturnino Velandia Solano, who argued that his rights to due process and political participation were not respected, after he had not been set a new date for the voting of the fate of Yañez.

“The National Registry of Civil Status, through the competent official, shall be ordered, within a non-extendable period of 48 hours following the setting of the new date for the implementation of the mechanism for citizen participation to recall the mandate of the mayor of Cúcuta, established by the Governor of Norte de Norte de Santander, proceed to advance the necessary procedures related to the preparation and publication of the electoral calendar”, they quoted the ruling in that news.

Meanwhile, in the newspaper La Opinión they reported that, according to the court, the citizen who instituted guardianship did have their rights violated by the entities that have to guarantee and continue this electoral process.

“In this regard, it is irrefutable, taking into account the extensive regulatory framework in the foregoing lines, and in accordance with article 33 of Law 1757 of 2015, that it is the governor of Norte de Santander who is competent to reconvene elections as soon as possible so that the mechanism does not have any further delay”, they quoted from the decision.

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