Anti-Corruption court refers accountant general’s interdiction case to civil court

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The Anti-Corruption Division of the High Court has referred to the Civil Division an application seeking to halt the interdiction of Accountant General Lawrence Semakula over the alleged sh60b Bank of Uganda heist.

In his ruling, Justice David Makumbi stated that the matter being sought is of a civil nature and should therefore be handled by the Civil Division of the High Court.

Lawrence Semakula is battling charges of corruption, causing financial loss, money laundering and electronic fraud alongside Jennifer Muhuruzi (commissioner treasury services), Pedson Twesigomwe (assistant commissioner accounts), Tony Yawe (senior IT officer), Paul Nkalubo Lumala (IT systems officer) and Deborah Dorothy Kusiima (senior accountant).

Others charged are Judith Ashaba (accountant), Bettina Nayebare (research assistant accountant) and Mark Kasiiku, 33, an IT specialist.

Semakula filed the application against the Office of the Attorney General and the Permanent Secretary to the Treasury at the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development.

Through his lawyers, Mwesigwa Rukutana, Dr Oscar Kambona, Brian Rubihayo and Edgar Ayebazibwe, Semakula is seeking a declaration that his continued indefinite interdiction from his position as Accountant General in the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development is illegal, irrational, null and void.

Susan Sharon Akiror, a state attorney from the Attorney General’s Chambers, opposed the application to lift the interdiction, arguing that it would be absurd to allow officials accused of breaching public trust to resume duties related to the very offices they are alleged to have abused.

She contended that permitting them to oversee the same financial systems they are accused of compromising would undermine accountability, and urged the court to dismiss the application.

In a ruling delivered on March 25, 2026, Justice Makumbi stated that the issue of interdiction is an administrative measure arising out of powers spelt out under the Public Service Commission Regulations and the Uganda Public Service Orders.

“I do hereby find that this application for judicial review of the decision to interdict the application as filed before the Anti- Corruption Court Division of the High Court is in contradiction to Article 133 (1)(b) of the Constitution and paragraph (8) of the Anti- Corruption Division Practice Directions. In light of the foregoing, I do hereby accordingly refrain from delving into the substantive merit of the application. Pursuant to section 98 of the Civil Procedure Act, this application is accordingly transferred to the Civil Division of the High Court, which Division is administratively established to handle the same,” Justice Makumbi said.

Allegations

Prosecution alleges that Semakula 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 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, 2024.

Yawe, Twesigomwe, Kusiima, Nayebare, Lumala and Kasiiku were also charged with money laundering, contrary to section 3(b), 116 and 136(a) of the Anti-Money Laundering Act. The offence attracts a 15-year jail term or a fine not exceeding sh2b upon conviction.