Jimsek director James Ssekamwa Kulubya, 47, has been charged with evading taxes amounting to shillings 227 million.

If convicted, Kulubya will likely be jailed for the second time over offences related to tax evasion.

A resident of Bukasa – Bakuli in Wakiso district, Kulubya was charged on March 26, 2024, with fifteen counts of making false statements, contrary to section 58(1)(a) of the Tax Procedures Code Act, 2014.

Kulubya was charged at the Nakasero-based Anti-Corruption Court before Senior Principal Grade One Magistrate Christopher Opit and subsequently remanded to Luzira Prison.

Kulubya was remanded after his lawyer, Joel Matovu, informed the court that he did not have sureties to stand for him. The lawyer requested the court to defer the bail application to March 28, 2024, to allow him time to find suitable sureties.

The prosecution, led by Diana Prida and Davis Lomuria from the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA), stated that Kulubya, as a director of Jimsek Limited, filed returns in 2020 with value-added tax implications totalling over shillings 227 million.

According to the prosecution, Kulubya filed an amended value-added tax return in which he claimed to have made purchases of goods from Auto Spares and Accessories Limited whereas not. However, he denied the charges.

Under section 58(1)(a) of the Tax Procedures Code Act, 2014 a person found guilty of the offence is liable to a fine of shillings 110 million or a jail term of 10 years.

Kulubya’s previous conviction

On April 7, 2022, the Anti-Corruption Court, presided over by Moses Nabende Mushebebe, convicted Kulubya of two charges of making false statements to a tax officer. For the charges of making false statements, the court sentenced him to a fine of shillings three million on counts one to seven.

Additionally, the court sentenced Kulubya to three years on charges of making false statements to a tax officer on count eight.

He appealed against the sentence in the Anti-Corruption Division of the High Court. The High Court sentenced him to a fine of shillings 960,000, with the condition that in default, he would serve 18 months in jail. Kulubya paid the fine and was subsequently set free.