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KAMPALA - A procurement officer at Uganda Railways Corporation, Tom Kimera, is scheduled to appear in court to answer charges of abusing office. 

According to the court's cause list, Tom Kimera, along with a senior human resource officer, Maliza Mukembo Tibewolwa, and legal officer Grace Opoka Amony, are set to appear at the Nakasero-based Anti-Corruption Court on January 25, 2024, for the mention of the case. 

They were charged last October with abuse of office before Senior Principal Grade One Magistrate Abert Asiimwe. All the accused denied the charges and were released on bail. 

The prosecution, led by Chief State Attorney Gloria Inzikuru, is expected to update the court on the progress of the investigation. 

Charges against the accused 

It is alleged that in June 2020, at the Uganda Railways Corporation offices in Kampala, Kimera, Tibewolwa, and Amony, while employed as a senior procurement officer, a senior human resource officer, and a legal officer, as well as members of the evaluation committee, acted arbitrarily against the interests of their employer. 

The prosecution claims that the accused abused their offices when they approved Deloitte Uganda Limited as having satisfied the eligibility to provide consultancy services. 

According to the prosecution, the accused allegedly contracted Deloitte Uganda Limited to conduct the recruitment of the managing director of Uganda Railways Corporation. 

The prosecution further argues that the accused acted in contravention of the laws and procedures governing the procurement of such public services in Uganda. 

What the law says 

Under section 11(1) of the Anti-Corruption Act 2009, any person found guilty of the offence of abuse of office is liable, on conviction, to seven years in jail or a fine not exceeding sh2.9m, or both.

Additionally, under section 46 of the Anti-Corruption Act, a person convicted of abuse of office is banned from holding public office for a period of 10 years.