The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Buganda Road Chief Magistrates Court has remanded two leaders of the Uganda Liberal Teachers’ Union Members’ SACCO on charges of obtaining money by false pretence and conspiracy to defraud.
The leaders are Evans Mutesasira Kaganizo, the SACCO Chairperson resident of Katanga Zone in Bushenyi District and Esiingwa Hassan Maganda, the General Secretary and a resident of Nacwesambula B, Baitambogwe Sub County, Bunya County, Mayuge district.
The two were on Thursday arraigned before the Court Presided over by the Chief Magistrate Ronald Kayizzi, where they denied obtaining 1.375 billion shillings from the SACCO by falsely pretending to sell 500 acres of land at Block 3 in Kabwoya/Kyangwali Sub counties. The said crime was reportedly committed between November and December 2024.
However, records before the Court indicate that investigations revealed that the land does not exist and is part of the Bunyoro Kingdom land, with Maganda only entitled to an equitable share upon completion of the survey.
The court also heard that the SACCO leaders conspired to defraud the organization of 2 75 billion shillings by purchasing non-existent land, a house in Kira and a Toyota Hilux with registration number UBR 938S at an inflated cost of 234 million shillings also in 2024.
Investigations revealed that on December 9th 2024, the non-existent land was purchased from Hansem Technical Services Limited. The agreement was signed by Mutesasira Evans Kaganizo (Chairperson), Nathan Kakson Twinomujuni (General Secretary), and Ninsiima Allen Buzaare (board member). However, it was discovered that the land was not owned by Hansem Technical Services Limited, and the sale agreement was a sham.
Furthermore, investigations showed that on December 16th 2024, 1,375,030,100 was paid by the Teachers SACCO on the account of Esiigwa Hassan Maganda Nsiyona, not Hansem Technical Services Limited, the vendor in the sale agreement.
This payment was made without the resolution of the SACCO members and the approval of the Registrar of Cooperatives.
Records show that the SACCO leaders spent over 3 billion shillings within a month without following proper procedures.
As a result, this raised suspicions, and a whistleblower complaint was filed with the State House Anti-Corruption Unit in November 2024, alleging misappropriation of the 6.66 billion granted to teachers by President Yoweri Museveni during the National Teachers’ Day celebrations in 2023.
They were remanded until March 19th 2025, as investigations continue.
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