PACEID boss Bagonza awaits bail ruling today in money laundering case

Mathew Bagonza, the head of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Export and Industrial Development (PACEID) secretariat, is expected to know his bail fate today, as he battles charges of abuse of office and money laundering.

The Anti-Corruption Division of the High Court judge Jane Okuo Kajuga is scheduled to deliver her ruling on Bagonza’s bail application at 2:00pm.

In his bail application, Bagonza argues that he is entitled to bail because he is presumed innocent until proven guilty. He also states that he has a fixed place of abode and substantial sureties to guarantee his return to court.

Bagonza was formally arraigned in court on September 17, 2026, over allegations that he irregularly transferred sh171.7m from PACEID accounts to his personal bank account.

The 39-year-old is also a shareholder and director of the Presidential Initiative on Export and Industrial Development. He resides in Mpala Village, Katabi Town Council, Wakiso district. Bagonza is also a close aide to PACEID chairman Odrek Rwabwogo.

The case

Bagonza faces charges of abuse of office, contrary to Section 10(1) of the Anti-Corruption Act, and money laundering, contrary to Sections 3(a), 119 and 139(10)(a) of the Anti-Money Laundering Act.

Upon conviction, money laundering attracts a maximum sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment, while abuse of office carries a maximum seven-year jail term.

Prosecution alleges that in January 2024, while serving as head of the PACEID secretariat under the Office of the President, Bagonza abused his authority by irregularly registering and incorporating the Presidential Initiative on Export and Industrial Development as a private limited company.

According to the prosecution, the company had objectives similar to those of his employer, an act allegedly prejudicial to the interests of the Government of Uganda.

On the money laundering charge, the prosecution alleges that Bagonza and others still at large, between September 1, 2023, and August 30, 2026, transferred sh171.7m from an account at Housing Finance Bank’s Kololo branch to his personal account at the same bank.

The prosecution states that the funds were transferred from account number 1100273525, opened in the names of “Office of the President-Presidential Initiative on Export and Industrial Development”, to Bagonza’s personal account number 1100278763.

According to the prosecution, the transactions were intended to conceal or disguise the alleged illicit origin of the funds, which Bagonza allegedly knew or had reason to believe were proceeds of crime. ENDs……………. /