Following the collapse of the criminal case against officials accused of stealing up to Shs 165bn in pension funds, a private citizen has lodged a civil suit in the High court against the accused individuals.
The concerned citizen, Sam Lukwago, wants the six persons, mostly former employees of ministry of public service, to refund the money. In April, Anti-Corruption court chief magistrate Sarah Langa Siu dismissed the case after the state failed in two years to present a single witness to testify against them.
The accused are; Jimmy Lwamafa (former permanent secretary), Christopher Obey (former principal accountant), Steven Kunsa Kiwanuka (former director for research and development), David Japins Oloka (former senior accounts assistant), Francis Lubega (former information system analyst), Steven Lwanga (former accounts assistant), Peter Ssajjabi (East African Community Beneficiaries Association), and Ishaka Sentongo and Ms Rahmah Nakigozi Mugeere, both of Cairo International Bank.
In the suit filed on May 25, Lukwago said he was forced to institute the case because of government inaction.
"The plaintiff [Lukwago] asserts that the lack of action on the part of the first defendant (attorney general) and the director of public prosecutions is to the detriment of the government of Uganda and the citizens of the republic of Uganda as public resources defrauded from the government of Uganda are being put to total waste or lost completely," Lukwago said in his plaint.
Lukwago wants court to compel Obey, Kunsa, Oloka, Lubega, Lwanga and Ssajjabi to refund Shs 165bn, saying that several police reports had indicated that they were liable for the plunder.
Through Kyazze, Kankaka & Co. Advocates, Lukwago said that sometime in 2012, a whistleblower reported to police a case regarding the theft of the East African Community employees' pension. The funds were paid out to fictitious people, allegedly by the respondents. Read more
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