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KAMPALA - A State House accountant, accused of plotting to murder a Portuguese national, has been further remanded to Luzira Prison.

Prosecution alleges that Joram Itungo conspired with Ibrahim Eramu Echcn to kill Carlos Patricio Cohen between October 2023 and January this year in Kampala district, after the investor declined to allocate him (Itungo) 10% shares in a gold refinery company.

Itungo appeared before the Buganda Road Chief Magistrate Ronald Kayizzi on May 24, 2024, and denied the charge of conspiracy to murder an investor, contrary to section 208 of the Penal Code Act. 

According to the Penal Code Act, any person who conspires with any other person to kill any person, whether such a person is in Uganda or elsewhere, commits a felony and is liable to a 14-year jail sentence.

It is purported that Itungo owns a private security firm called Capital Guards and Patrol Limited.

The accused applied for bail but the State Attorney Allan Mucunguzi said he needed to peruse through the file and discuss with the investigation officer before he drafts an affidavit in support of his objection to the bail application.

What happened?

It was a normal Saturday afternoon on August 5, last year. Cohen was going about his work normally in his Ntinda-based gold refinery office that he set up after meeting Museveni when he visited Dubai to woo investors to Uganda.

The proprietor of Feldstein Trading Refinery, located in Ntinda, Nakawa division, suddenly received unusual visitors. Several security men stormed his office. They included Police officers, and operatives from the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI) and the Financial Intelligence Authority (FIA).

Panic set in as Cohen tried to make sense of what was going on. His office was searched and everything turned upside down.

Cohen watched helplessly as the men ransacked his office, taking with them over $52,000 (sh196m) and dirhams from his safe deposit box.

The victim later wrote a letter to the Inspector General of Police and copied to President Yoweri Museveni detailing the ordeal and details of a ransom of $1m (about sh3.7b) which the men demanded to save him, Police sources said.

Murder plot

Sources also revealed that two private security guards who took charge of Cohen’s security have since confessed and recorded statements at the Police’s Criminal Investigations Directorate headquarters about a murder plot on the investor.

According to sources, the two private guards claimed that they were allegedly promised sh30m, air tickets and a home abroad if they killed Cohen.

Quoting their statements, the source said; “They claimed they revealed the murder plot to Cohen because of his generosity, citing that during the time they guarded him, he was generous to them including taking care of their families.”

The guards remain under the Police’s protection unit, according to sources.
The magistrate adjourned that case until July 10, 2024.