Uganda Sh60b Bank of Uganda fraud case deferred to April

KAMPALA - Trial judge David Makumbi directed the accused persons and their lawyers to appear in court to agree on uncontested documents.

Among those charged is former Accountant General Lawrence Semakula. Jennifer Muhuruzi, the commissioner for treasury services, are Pedson Twesigomwe, assistant commissioner for accounts, and Tony Yawe, a senior IT officer.

Other accused persons are Paul Nkalubo Lumala, an IT systems officer; Deborah Dorothy Kusiima, a senior accountant; Judith Ashaba, an accountant; Bettina Nayebare, a research assistant accountant; and Mark Kasiiku, an IT specialist. The accused persons are currently out on bail.
On March 11, 2026, the prosecution informed the court that the case had come up for mention when the accused persons appeared before court.

All the accused persons were committed to the Anti-Corruption Division of the High Court for trial by the Chief Magistrate of the Anti-Corruption Court, Peter Lochomin.

Justice Makumbi said he was deferring the to another date for mention to allow the parties time to prepare the documents to be relied upon during the trial.

Allegations

 Prosecution alleges that Ssemakula and Muhuruzi, between January and October 2024, at the finance ministry on Plot 2-8, Sir Apollo Kaggwa Road in Kampala city, neglected to put in place effective systems to safeguard public funds, which resulted in a financial loss of $6,525,852 (about sh23.9b) to the Government.

It is alleged that Twesigomwe, Kusiima and Lumala, between September 9 and 11, 2024, at the finance ministry headquarters in Kampala, participated as accomplices in the commission of the offence of corruption when they allegedly concealed the irregular payment of $6,134,137 (sh22.5b) to an unauthorised payee in the name of Roadway Company Limited.

Yawe is accused of irregularly altering the payment instructions for sh22.5b that was supposed to be paid to the International Development Association for principal and interest by substituting the intended payee with Roadway Company Limited, purporting it to be payment for recycling plant and machinery, for purposes of illicitly obtaining benefits for the said company.

He allegedly committed the offence between September 9 and 11, 2024, at the finance ministry headquarters offices in Kampala.

Prosecution also alleges that between September 20 and October 1, 2024, at the finance ministry offices in Kampala, Kasiiku manipulated the payment instruction files in respect of $391,720 (sh1.4b), which was supposed to be paid to the International Development Association, to MJS International London, a company that was not entitled to the said payment.

Prosecution alleges that Yawe, in January 2024 at the finance ministry headquarters in Kampala, by means of deception and with intention of securing an unlawful gain, deliberately manipulated the payment instruction files of the Integrated Financial Management System by altering the payment details from the International Development Association Washington, who was the intended payee, of $6,674,320 (sh24.5b) to an unintended payee in the name of International Development Association Sielska, Poznan, Poland.

According to the prosecution, Yawe abused the authority of his office by allegedly committing an arbitrary act, which is prejudicial to the interests of his employer, the Government.

On the other hand, Kasiiku is accused of introducing executable scripts on the Oracle programme on the Integrated Financial Management System that resulted in the authorised payment of $8,596,824 (Sh31.5b) to MJS International London between September 23, 2024 and September 27,