Court orders gov’t to pay UGX 282m after police officer illegally auctioned vehicle

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Government has been ordered to pay 282 million shillings after a police officer illegally auctioned a car that had been reported missing.

It all started on November 14th 2008, when a pickup registration number UAE 130H belonging to Adrine Kemirembe went missing from Makerere University library parking lot.

Court heard that on April 26th 2010, when Kemirembe’s husband Alex Ssebagala was in Kisenyi, a Kampala suburb, he saw the vehicle being used for business.

Ssebagala then hired the vehicle up to Makerere University police station where the driver and turn boy were arrested.

The driver Jamil Mutyaba told police that the car belonged to Anatoli Muleterwa, who was then the Community liaison officer for Kampala Metropolitan Area.

Court heard that the vehicle had been sold to Muleterwa at one million shillings through auctioning

But Muleterwa told the court that the auctioning was legal since there was a court order authorizing the auction after the custodian of exhibits at Central Police Station complained that they were congesting the police station.

However in her Judgement on Wednesday, Justice Mugambe said that she failed to understand under what circumstances a missing car that had been reported to police was auctioned and how it had reached Central police station.

She said that the available evidence indicates that the car was sold to Muleterwa’s wife Margaret Kiiza at one million shillings at the same time when the police were looking for it.

Mugambe adds however that there is no satisfactory explanation as to why or how Kemirembe’s car got listed on auctioneer’s list yet the court order that was brought before her doesn’t mention it as one of the exhibits authorized to be auctioned.

“It’s near to blasphemy that Muleterwa could stand in court on oath before me and insist that the sale of the plaintiff’s car was authorized by court whereas not. If he would lie in this aspect, one wonders which part of his testimony is truthful”, said Mugambe.

Justice Mugambe ruled that out of the 282 million shillings, 50 million will be paid by Muleterwa.

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