State House Entebbe. Guards who allegedly stole Shs700 million from the President’s Office on Okello House are currently being retried over the theft.
KAMPALA- When State House Comptroller Lucy
Mbonye Nakyobe told Parliament on October 30 that six presidential
guards accused of stealing about Shs700 million from the President’s
Office had been convicted, it was the truth, but not the whole truth.
It is true the soldiers of the Special Forces Command, had been tried and convicted by the Unit Disciplinary Court at Kasenyi in Entebbe shortly after their arrest.
The Unit Disciplinary Court was chaired by Brig Muhoozi Kainerugaba.
However, by the time Ms Mbonye testified before the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament, the story had changed.
It is true the soldiers of the Special Forces Command, had been tried and convicted by the Unit Disciplinary Court at Kasenyi in Entebbe shortly after their arrest.
The Unit Disciplinary Court was chaired by Brig Muhoozi Kainerugaba.
However, by the time Ms Mbonye testified before the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament, the story had changed.
The accused soldiers had been put on fresh trial
and released on bail by another military court. They are; Mr Mark
Betunga, Moses Muhangi, Gideon Tumuhimbise, Daniel Okello and two
others. They are accused of stealing the money from the State House safe
at Okello House in Nakasero in 2011.
Sunday Monitor has learnt that the accused
soldiers had challenged their trial and conviction by the Unit
Disciplinary Court in the higher court, the General Court Martial. They
contended that they had been convicted without being allowed to defend
themselves and that the trial court had no jurisdiction to try them.
The court martial upheld their appeal. It ruled that the Unit Disciplinary Court had no jurisdiction to try a case of such magnitude and that it had irregularly convicted the accused without a fair hearing.
The court martial upheld their appeal. It ruled that the Unit Disciplinary Court had no jurisdiction to try a case of such magnitude and that it had irregularly convicted the accused without a fair hearing.
The General Court Martial referred the case to the
Division Court Martial at Bombo for a retrial and the suspects were
released on bail.
Apparently, the disciplinary court had convicted
the soldiers before they arrived for trial. Upon arrival in the court at
Kasenyi, they found a judgment had already been made and it was just
read out to them.
Their defence lawyer, Capt Nasser Drago, who
partially represented the accused in the appeal case, confirmed the
retrial. “The appeal was heard, the accused won and the case was
recalled for trial,” Capt Drago said.
The accused are still undergoing the retrial at the Division Court Martial at Bombo.
“The Division Court Martial in Bombo is still
handling the case. It only failed to sit this week because the
chairperson was away on special duties.” Maj Robert Ngabirano told this
newspaper.
Plan and execution of the theft
In September 2011, a lot of money was withdrawn from Tropical Bank and taken to State House at Okello House in Nakasero. Sacks of cash were poured into a room that was guarded by four soldiers, with two other military guards manning the entrance.
At around that time, the guards started receiving daily allowances of Shs20,000.
A source close to State House told Sunday Monitor that top government and NRM officials and some ministers’ wives would frequently come to Okello House, load some sacks of cash onto their cars and drive away.
In September 2011, a lot of money was withdrawn from Tropical Bank and taken to State House at Okello House in Nakasero. Sacks of cash were poured into a room that was guarded by four soldiers, with two other military guards manning the entrance.
At around that time, the guards started receiving daily allowances of Shs20,000.
A source close to State House told Sunday Monitor that top government and NRM officials and some ministers’ wives would frequently come to Okello House, load some sacks of cash onto their cars and drive away.
As more people frequently flocked to pick the cash bags, the guards’ daily allowance was increased to Shs50,000 for half day.
“There was a very strong smell of money at Okello
House and with the high allowance, the guards got curious. One guard
called Dan decided to peep through the ventilators. He saw sacks of
money on the floor heaped up to near the ceiling,” a source said.
Struck by what he saw inside, the guard alerted
his colleagues. The guards then made contact with an artisan in Kisenyi
suburb to make for them a duplicate key to the cash room.
The artisan came to Okello House, examined the
locks and went back to make the key. On the day the money was stolen,
the guards called the expert key cutter. He arrived at 10pm, opened the
door to the cash room and they entered and started helping themselves
with the cash bags.
They opened the first sack which contained Pounds and they ignored it.
“We saw the notes had a face of a woman and we decided it would land us into problems so we decided to look for our own notes. We turned more sacks before falling on dollars but also we did not take,” one of the guards, is quoted to have told a source.
“We saw the notes had a face of a woman and we decided it would land us into problems so we decided to look for our own notes. We turned more sacks before falling on dollars but also we did not take,” one of the guards, is quoted to have told a source.
After turning over the sacks, they saw sacks of
Shs20,000 and Shs50,000 notes. Each of them picked a number of sacks
they could carry before inviting the two other guards at the entrance to
come and also help themselves get rich.
As excitement grew, the key cutter was reportedly heard asking how much he should take. The guards told him to carry what he could.
As excitement grew, the key cutter was reportedly heard asking how much he should take. The guards told him to carry what he could.
No comments:
Post a Comment