Lawrence Semakula, Uganda’s Accountant General was one of the officials aligned in court
HABARI DAILY I Kampala, Uganda I Nine suspects in the sh60 billion Bank of Uganda (BoU) heist finally had their day in court, and it was all tears.
This all happened when authorities moved to formally charge nine senior officials from the Ministry of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development over their alleged involvement in a fraud scheme that led to a financial loss of approximately Shs 60 billion ($15.7 million).
They were later shepherded to Luzira Maximum prison, after the Chief Magistrate Racheal Nakyazze denied the accused bail and adjourned the matter to February 18 when the case will return for mention.
Those charged included Lawrence Semakula, the Accountant General, Twesigomwe Pedson, an Assistant Commissioner Accounts, Jennifer Muhuruzi a Commissioner of Treasury Services/Accounting Officer and Tony Yawe, Senior IT Officer
Others included Paul Nkalubo Lumala, an IT Systems Officer, Kusiima Dorothy, Senior Accountant, Judith Ashaba, an Accountant, Nayebare Bettina, a Research Assistant Accountant and Mark Kasiku, an IT Systems Officer. All these belong to the ministry of finance.
The sophistication of the heist was such that most of the suspected culprits belonged to either the accounts or IT sections of the finance ministry.
A cross section of the accused appearing before the Anti Corruption court on Thursday
Yawe, for instance, who is a Senior IT Officer, was charged with manipulating payment instruction files between September 9 and September 11, 2024. This led to the diversion of $6,134,137.75 meant for the International Development Association (IDA) to a fraudulent entity, Roadway Co. Limited, Tokyo, Japan.
Electronic Fraud
In a letter seen by Habari Daily, the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) said they chose to make the move and direct the arrest of the suspects following months of investigations into suspicious financial transactions, which were executed within the finance ministry.
Charges leveled against the officials in the Anti-Corruption Court on Thursday were charged with corruption, causing financial loss, abuse of office, electronic fraud, and money laundering under the Anti-Corruption Act (2023) and the Computer Misuse Act (Cap 96).
Some of the accused were also charged with money laundering. These included Yawe, Twesigomwe, Kusiima, Nayebare, Lumala, and Kasiku, who allegedly attempted to disguise the fraudulent payments as legitimate transactions to avoid detection.
According to the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP), the fraud took place between January and October 2024 and was executed through manipulation of financial payment systems within the ministry.
