Shs60b heist: Finance officials face fresh trial

Top Finance ministry officials accused of involvement in the Shs60b fraud scandal will remain on trial.

The Anti-Corruption Court yesterday set October 12 for the nine accused officials to take a fresh plea to the charges, signaling that the prosecution will proceed with the case after Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) insisted that the available evidence does not exonerate them.

When the case came up before Justice David Matovu yesterday, defense lawyer Edward Rukutana questioned why the prosecution had not either withdrawn the charges or complied with previous court orders requiring disclosure of evidence.

"We are disappointed by the seeming procrastination of the State to prosecute this matter," Mr Rukutana told court.

He said the defense had expected the trial to commence after the prosecution was ordered to make full disclosure by July 13.

"It is now August 31, and the State is telling us that even now they are offering partial disclosure," he said.

Mr Rukutana further told court that the defense was aware of the President's directive concerning the accused officials.

"It is public knowledge, and we have seen orders of the Supreme Court, (meaning President Museveni) of this country, that Mr Lawrence Semakula, the Accountant General, and others don't need to stand trial; the directive was that they should be reinstated and culprits pursued," he said.

He added: "The delay is something amiss somewhere."

In reply, Mr Richard Birivumbuka, a Chief State Attorney from the DPP's office, accused Mr Rukutana of preaching in parables about what President Museveni could have said and that the same was not clear.

"My senior colleague Rukutana was preaching in parables that the supreme authority was not very clear on that point, so we do not specifically mention what the Fountain of Honour said," he retorted.

However, DPP Lino Anguzu, when contacted yesterday, said the evidence currently before his office does not clear the nine officials.

"The President could have been given wrong information, but we are revisiting some of the aspects in the case," Mr Anguzu said.

The DPP's position means the accused officials will continue to face prosecution as his office reviews aspects of the case. President Museveni's directive was understood to include the reinstatement of Mr Semakula as Accountant General, with a three-year contract.

The President also directed the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) and the DPP to investigate the matter and identify and prosecute the culprits.

The nine accused are Ms Jennifer Muhuruzi, the Commissioner for Treasury Services; Mr Twinomugisha Wilson, an Assistant Commissioner in the Asset Management Department; Head of Quality Assurance Eric Mbabazi; Tony Yawe, a Senior IT Officer and IFMS Administrator; Mr Paul Lumala Nkalubo, a Systems IT Officer; Ms Deborah Kusiima; Ms Tacit Asahaba, an accountant; Ms Bettina Nagebare, a research assistant; and Mr Mark Kasiiku, an IT officer.

The Shs60b transactions

The case stems from alleged diversion of funds meant to service Uganda's loan obligations to the International Development Association (IDA) under the World Bank and the African Development Fund (ADF) under the African Development Bank.

According to the prosecution's summary of evidence filed when the accused were committed to the High Court's Anti-Corruption Division in March, two transactions involving more than Shs59b were allegedly diverted. The first transaction involved $6.18million (about Shs22.6b) that was intended for IDA but was allegedly paid to Broadway Company Limited in Tokyo, Japan. The second involved $8.5m (about Shs31.6b) meant for ADF but allegedly paid to MJS International in London, United Kingdom. The transactions allegedly occurred on September 12 and September 30, 2024.

The matter came to the attention of investigators after The Bank of Uganda's (BoU) director of banking wrote to the Director of CID on October 16, 2024, requesting investigations into suspected fraudulent transactions.

Police commenced investigations on October 24, 2024, and sought a special forensic and information technology audit by the Auditor General.

What DPP alleges

The prosecution alleges that Mr Semakula failed to act on a BoU inquiry report concerning an earlier diversion of $6.9m (about Shs24.6b), commonly referred to as the "Poland case".

According to the prosecution, Mr Semakula did not initiate investigations into the matter but instead instructed officials to "clear" it.

He is also accused of failing to implement control measures compile annual meeting reports at which weaknesses in the financial management system had allegedly been identified.

Ms Muhuruzi, who was responsible for approving loan repayments in her capacity as Commissioner for Treasury Services, is accused of failing to act on the BoU inquiry report concerning the earlier diversion. The prosecution alleges that she acted in concert with Mr Semakula and Mr Twinomugisha, who was head of the quality assurance in the Asset Management Department.

Mr Twinomugisha is accused of fraudulently altering, or selectively receiving altered, emails, systematically altered, or manipulated reconciliation statements on computer.

He is further accused, together with Ms Asahaba and Ms Nagebare, of preparing the reconciliation reports in what is known as "IDA-60-1291 Poland", Poland was indicated as the payee instead of IDA Washington.

The prosecution alleges that the three officials failed to raise red flags despite receiving BoU payment notifications.

Mr Yawe, the IFMS administrator, is accused of using his admin access level privilege and encryption system to insert Linux scripts that allegedly altered payee details in the Poland, Japan and US transactions.

Mr Nkalubo, a systems IT officer, is alleged to have been the prime email administrator with full access to the ministry's email server. According to the prosecution, he had the ability to create user accounts and email groups and change passwords, giving him control over email communications linked to the disputed transactions.

Ms Kusiima is accused of creating a bank statement showing Roadway Company Limited as the payee. Ms Asahaba and Ms Nagebare are accused of participating in the reconciliation process and preparing reports relating to the Poland transaction. Mr Kasiiku is accused of having his username used to insert Linux scripts that allegedly altered the payee details in the ADF transaction involving MJS International in the UK.

The allegations have not been proven in court, and all the accused are presumed innocent until proven guilty.