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A senior secretary at Isango Sub-County in Kasese District local government has been charged with abuse of office.

Chris Kaija was charged at the Nakasero-based Anti-Corruption Court before Magistrate Christopher Opit.

Kaija faces one count of abuse of office under Section 11(1) of the Anti-Corruption Act of 2009.

The prosecution, led by Chief State Attorney Gertrude Apio from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), alleged that on June 27, 2022, at Isango Sub-County in Kasese District local government, while employed as a senior assistant secretary, Kaija abused his authority. He irregularly signed a memorandum of understanding between Isango Sub-County, Babuyirana Butcher Men Development Association Limited, and Kasese United Cattle Traders Development, leasing two acres of sub-county land.

The prosecution claimed the land was leased for slaughtering animals without following established procedures for leasing such sub-county land. Kaija denied the charges and was released on a cash bail of shillings 5 million. His sureties were bonded at sh20m.

What the law stipulates:

Under Section 11(1) of the Anti-Corruption Court Act, a person found guilty of the offense of abuse of office is liable to seven years imprisonment upon conviction, a fine not exceeding sh1.3m, or both.