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The defence hearing in a case where former Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) engineer Umar Katongole is facing charges of illicit enrichment and money laundering has been delayed due to the lawyer’s absence.

Katongole is accused alongside his wife Hawa Sengendo, a community development officer at Luwero district local government of laundering shillings 6.2 billion.

Justice Jane Okuo Kajuga had fixed the hearing for March 28, 2024, for Katongole and Sengendo to start their defence but Katongole informed the court that his lawyer, Aggrey Bwire, was absent.

Katongole asked the court to postpone the hearing to another date for himself, to which Justice Kajuga granted the application and deferred the defence hearing to April 8, 2024.

On December 6, 2023, the Nakasero-based Anti-Corruption Court ruled that Katongole and Sengendo had a case to answer regarding the charges.

The accused persons have chosen to present their defence through an unsworn testimony, indicating their intention to provide evidence without subjecting themselves to cross-examination by the prosecution. They also notified the court that they would call witnesses to bolster their defence.

In her ruling in December 2023, Justice Kajuga stated that the accused persons have a case to answer on all counts of illicit enrichment and money laundering. She noted that the prosecution had sufficiently demonstrated the need for the accused to explain their actions.

Prosecution’s case

The prosecution, led by the Inspectorate of Government's (IGG) head of prosecution, Brenda Kimbugwe, alongside senior Inspectorate officer Sylvia Nabirye, contend that Katongole deliberately obscured the origins of his assets situated on Block 180, specifically plots 1395, 1782, and 877 within Wakiso district.

It is further alleged that Katongole transferred the land to Darkins Uganda, deliberately concealing the properties’ illegal origin.

The prosecution also claimed that Sengendo concealed the transfer of another piece of land on Block 26, plots 280, 281, and 282 at Mengo to Darkins Uganda, a company linked to Katongole.

Katongole and Sengendo allegedly deposited shillings of 2.8 billion in Tropical Bank Limited between April 2011 and August 2015, concealing its source, although the prosecution said they were aware that the money was obtained illegally.

To disguise the money’s source, the prosecution said Katongole transferred money from their joint account with Sengendo at Tropical Bank to Sengendo’s account number 0100017148 in Tropical Bank.

About a charge of money laundering against Sengendo, It is alleged that Sengendo deposited shillings 466 million in her accounts yet she knew that the money was a proceeds of crime. They denied the charges and they are out on bail