Balondemu bail hanging by a thread after hospital says medical documents forged

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Chief Executive Officer of Kampala Hospital Limited Dr Peter Kibuuka has said that the medical documents tendered before the court by the chairperson of the Kampala District Land Board David Balondemu were forged.

On Monday, Balondemu and Joseph Ibona an accountant at Bloom Advocates were arraigned before the Court presided over by Grade One Magistrate Winnie Nankya and charged with conspiring to obtain money by false pretense.

They appeared on a file with Ronald Kaweesa Tumusiime Kizito alias Denis a carpenter and resident of Mbogo Kawempe in Kampala and a lawyer Eric Geoffrey Mkwe.

The prosecution alleges that the accused persons and others still at large between the months of November 2022 and April 2023,  at Bloom Advocates with intent to defraud, obtained $553,000 from KG Unlimited LLC by falsely pretending that they were going to award it a contract of supplying agricultural drone sprayers and fertilizers from Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries whereas they were not.

However, Balondemu and his co-accused denied the charges and asked to be granted bail.

Balondemu paraded before the Court a team of seven lawyers Caleb Alaka, Evans Ochieng, Hassan Kamba, Robert Bautu,  John Isabirye, Mukasa Mbidde, and Andrew Kibumba to argue his bail application.

They stated that Balondemu was due for surgery today. The lawyers said that, for confidentiality purposes refused to disclose publicly what exactly Balondemu was suffering from and which Hospital he was due for surgery.

Balondemu was then remanded to Luzira Prison together with Joseph Ibona and waited for their bail ruling.

However, when the matter came up on Wednesday, the Prosecution led by State Attorney Ivan Kyazze asked the Court not to deliver the ruling saying the documents submitted by Balondemu were forged.

“According to our records, Mr Balondemu has never been a patient at Kampala Hospital. There is no scheduled TURP surgery on November 22nd, 2022 at 8 am for Mr Balondemu as indicated in the letter dated November 7th, 2023. Therefore the purported documents dated June 2nd, 2023 and November 7th, 2023, were not authored by Kampala Hospital”, wrote Kibuuka in his letter responding to a request from the Director CID Kibuuli.

The prosecution said they have filed a criminal application which relates to the documents given by Balondemu. They asked the court to address the matter before delivering the ruling on bail.

The court heard that the criminal application has a bearing on the bail application ruling because some of the documents that were submitted to the court by Balondemu particularly the medical documents that indicate that he was scheduled for surgery, had issues.

Kyazze asked the court to first hear the prosecution’s application, which seeks to declare the documents forged and consequently deny Balondemu bail.

However, Balondemu’s lawyers led by Hassan Kamba opposed the application, saying that they were witch-hunting his client. He said that if the prosecution is not satisfied with the grounds for bail, they can appeal against it but they cannot oppose the bail application which was already heard and was only pending.

Mukasa Mbidde noted that the prosecution tried to delay the bail based on speculations, which he described as unjustifiable and unconstitutional. He notes that the prosecution wants their client denied bail.

In the ruling, the Magistrate said that the court takes cognizance of the fact that bail doesn’t require exceptional circumstances but indicated that forgery is a serious case.

“The court needs now to understand the issues and make an informed opinion. The defense lawyers also need time to cross-examine the author of this letter. So leave is granted to the prosecutor to hear his application. The ruling on other bail applications will also be given after dissolving issues for their co-accused”, said Nankya.

She added that the forgery allegations are grave in nature and may also go back to the lawyer who tendered the documents to the court.

The court later adjourned and Doctor Kibuuka from Kampala Hospital was yet to be cross-examined before the ruling on bail could be given.

Balondemu was on Monday remanded to Luzira Prison, barely two weeks after his release, on charges related to defrauding a Korean investor in a bogus Gold deal of 2.2 billion shillings.

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