The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Anti-Corruption Court in Kampala has granted bail to six out of the nine government officials implicated in causing a financial loss of 60 billion shillings through the manipulation of payment systems. The court, presided over by Justice Lawrence Gidudu, granted bail to the six on Monday, with the amounts ranging from 20 million shillings to 30 million shillings, depending on the levels of their participation in the crime and the charges against them.
Each of their respective sureties was required to execute a non-cash bond ranging from 200 million to 300 million shillings. The accused were also ordered to deposit their land titles and passports with the court before being barred from accessing their respective offices. Additionally, Justice Gidudu directed the accused to report to the Court Registrar starting April 3, 2025.
Those granted bail include Lawrence Ssemakula, Accountant General at the Ministry of Finance; Jennifer Muhuruzi, Acting Director of Treasury Services and Asset Management; Paul Nkalubo Lumala, IT Systems Officer; Deborah Dorothy Kusiima, Senior Accountant in the Treasury Services Department; Judith Ashaba, Accountant; and Bettina Nayebare, Research Assistant.
Those denied bail and remanded include Mark Kasiiku, IT Systems Officer, and Tonny Yawe, Senior IT Officer. Justice Gidudu explained that Kasiiku is accused of using deception to secure unlawful gains and concealing a payment of 6.1 million dollars fraudulently paid to a company in Japan. Meanwhile, Yawe is accused of altering payment files in the EFMis system, with both men being seen as principal participants in the fraud. The judge instructed them to reapply for bail with sufficient security.
The ninth suspect in the case, Pedison Twesigomwe, Assistant Commissioner for Accounts at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, was charged about two weeks ago and did not apply for bail along with his co-accused. He remains on remand along with Yawe and Kasiiku. The prosecution alleges that Ssemakula, the Accountant General, and Muhuruzi, the Commissioner of Treasury Services, neglected to implement measures to safeguard public funds, resulting in a loss of 652,588.2 US dollars to the Government of Uganda.
Tonny Yawe, the senior IT officer, is accused of manipulating payment instruction files from the International Development Association in Washington. He allegedly diverted the payment meant for the intended recipient to Roadway Company Ltd in Poland, purporting it was for a recycling plant system and machinery, fully aware that this action would cause a loss to the government.
Twesigomwe is charged with being an accomplice in the corruption scheme, which prosecutors claim was aimed at illicitly enriching Roadway Company.
The group faces 11 counts, including corruption, causing financial loss, electronic fraud, and money laundering. According to preliminary police investigations, the stolen money mysteriously disappeared from the Bank of Uganda (BoU) in September 2024 and ended up in foreign accounts in the United Kingdom and several Asian countries, including Japan.
Since then, the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID), in collaboration with Defence Intelligence and Security (DIS), formerly known as Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI), has been interrogating various individuals from BoU, the Ministry of Finance, and the Accountant General’s office. The initial theory of a hacker being responsible for the heist was later disproven by CID’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) division.
Once it was established that the incident was a fraudulent payment scheme, President Yoweri Museveni directed DIS to assist in the investigation. By the end of 2024, at least 21 staff members from BoU, the Ministry of Finance, and the Accountant General’s office had been interrogated, and their electronic devices, including mobile phones and laptops, had been confiscated for examination.
Sources informed URN that BoU was able to recover more than half of the 60 billion shillings through UK banks. However, efforts to recover the funds transferred to Asian countries were unsuccessful. Ongoing investigations suggest that the money withdrawn from these foreign accounts was either returned clandestinely to Ugandan beneficiaries in cash or used to procure goods for them.
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