DPP lines up 35 to testify against Jinja city education officers
The trio: Amina Mutesi, the principal education officer; Haruna Muloopa, the senior education officer in charge of special duties; and former assistant sports officer Samuel Ngobi (retired) are battling charges of abuse of office and diversion of Universal Primary Education (UPE) funds.
When Amina Mutesi, the principal education officer; Haruna Muloopa, the senior education officer in charge of special duties; and former assistant sports officer Samuel Ngobi were first arraigned in court after being arrested in 2024. (Credit: SHACU)
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The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has lined up 35 witnesses to testify against three Jinja City Council senior technocrats in the education department, who are being accused of abusing their offices.
The trio: Amina Mutesi, the principal education officer; Haruna Muloopa, the senior education officer in charge of special duties; and former assistant sports officer Samuel Ngobi (retired) are battling charges of abuse of office and diversion of Universal Primary Education (UPE) funds.
They appeared before the Anti-Corruption Court sitting in Jinja on Wednesday, September 30, 2026. Prosecution alleges that the crimes were committed between June 2021 and May 24, 2022.
A charge sheet signed by the DPP, Lino Anguzu, states that Mutesi allegedly directed headteachers of government-aided primary schools to make specified contributions towards Term Two activities.
According to the DPP, this contravenes the UPE guidelines.
Meanwhile, Ngobi faces a similar charge of soliciting contributions towards sports workshops, while Muloopa is said to have directed headteachers to contribute towards Jinja City Council activities.
Sharif Magola, a former porter at the Jinja City Council registry office, testified that between 2020 and 2022, money was deposited into his Tropical Bank account on six different occasions.
Magola said he remained curious about the source of the money since he was earning sh210,000 a month.
He said the deposits were in the range of sh5m, but he could not recall the various dates of the transactions.
Whenever money landed on his account, Magola said Ngobi would call and inform him of the deposited monies meant for the education department activities.
Magola said Ngobi would instruct him to urgently withdraw the money and hand it to the concerned authorities.
On reaching the education office, Magola stated that he would hand all the amounts to Mutesi without signing any documentation or Mutesi acknowledging receipt.
As a porter, Magola said he could not question the source of the money since the officers were his superiors.
Meanwhile, Frances Wanyala, 60, another former porter in the environment department, told court that huge sums of money were deposited into his Post Bank account twice.
He said it was Ngobi, who would alert him and give him similar instructions to withdraw and take it to Mutesi, as it was the case with Magola.
“I couldn't question the source of the money since Mutesi was my boss,” he said.
Prosecution alleges that the solicited monies were connected to the diversion of UPE capitation grants from government-aided primary schools in Jinja City.
It should be noted that in 2024, the State House Anti-corruption Unit (SHACU) arrested and charged the three over abuse of office. The hearing of the case continues Thursday (October 1, 2026), with more witnesses expected to testify against the accused.