Villagers want new leader to recoup money

By Wang Huazhong (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-08-06 08:19

Six senior villagers, representing more than 1000 villagers, hold a poster which reads: "Offering five million yuan in serach of a clean official."

Wanted: A village director who is "moral" and willing to be paid five million yuan to recoup missing millions allegedly stolen from locals.

Residents in Dongnan village, in Lechang county, Shandong province, have launched an extraordinary online campaign to search for a new leader.

Liu Peiyi, 72, said they allegedly found that party secretary of village, Bian Changzhi, and other officials had embezzled assets worth 50 million yuan ($7.3 million) since the leader's appointment in 1980.

"Bian had taken away the money by repossessing and selling croplands, embezzling public funds and project funds, and exploiting local enterprises," said Liu.

Liu Xilu, 77, said the six people represent 1,000 villagers.

"We drafted the petition letter together. The aim is simple and clear: to retain a leader with morals and get rid of the corrupted. On behalf of the 1,000 villages, we will award our savior with five million yuan immediately after he/she recollects the sum."

The six local representatives, all aged above 65, began investigating the government accounts in 2001.

According to Liu, villagers complained that government should make financial information public. They have been suspicious about government spending since 2000.

According to 77-year-old veteran Liu Xilu, another representative, the village government cheated 500 locals by making them pay 1,000 yuan each in 1996 to buy themselves a change of hukou (residential registration). They were told the registrations would qualify them for pensions and food allowances from the state. But these benefits never materialized and the government did not give their money back.

"Four years ago, 1,000 villagers signed the petitions to support us. However, it breaks my heart that we were unable to bring back their hard-earned money," Liu said in an interview.

Officials with the county government said yesterday that between 2001 and 2005, multiple audits concluded the leadership was not corrupt and village leaders had not committed any crimes.

In response to the online campaign, an investigation team is reviewing the case and tracing the village's accounts records back to 1980.