Court dismisses charges against Development Channel boss

Mar 03, 2020

The court presided over by Chief Magistrate Ruth Nabaasa dismissed the case for want of prosecution.

COURT   JUSTICE 

KAMPALA - Nakawa Chief Magistrates' Court has dismissed a case in which Development Channel director Charles Lambert Nwabuikwu, is accused of giving false or misleading information about their business to the public.

The court presided over by Chief Magistrate Ruth Nabaasa dismissed the case for want of prosecution. It was also dismissed on grounds that the state failed to get evidence to pin the accused of the crime.  

Lambert, 44, a Briton of Nigerian decent and his wife, Caroline Waithera Waweru, 30, a Kenyan national, were facing charges of giving false or misleading information to people. However, failure to get evidence to sustain the allegations resulted to the dismissal of the case before it was heard.

"The accused, between October 2017 and November 2018, in various parts of Uganda, disseminated misleading information to induce members of the public to buy shares in Development Channel, knowing or having reason to believe that such information was false," Prosecution led by Annet Namatovu alleged.

In 2018, Lambert was arrested and charged at Nakawa Court, but later released on bail. However, during the court sessions, he always opted for out of court settlement in order to compensate people who did not want to continue with the business.

However, the New Vision could not establish whether some of the individuals were compensated to leave the business.

FIA, CMA

When Development Channel started operating, the Financial Intelligence Authority (FIA) reportedly received information that the company through a programme dubbed Uganda Poverty Alleviation was collecting money from the public while promising them shares.

At that time, FIA established that the company could not sell shares to the public without the requisite regulatory authorisation. On March 7, 2018, FIA received a letter from Capital Markets Authority (CMA) informing them about Development Channel sale of shares.

Development Channel Defence

In a notice published in the media in March 2018, Development Conglomerate Limited that resumed work recently clarified that they do not sale shares but computer tablets.

"We are, however, issuing a free certificate of profit-sharing which is clearly stated on it that it is not securities and cannot be traded."

The company stated that it runs a special sales promotional incentive for computer tablets companies in developed countries such as the UK, US, Canada and more offer "mail-in rebates" to customers who purchase their product and in turn give them future financial rewards for buying the product.

It further stated that the initiative is designed to help struggling families in Uganda receive hope of financial relief in the project without taking any risk.

It further stated that the solutions to sustainable development for Uganda are the employment of innovative private sector-led ideas through the Uganda Poverty Alleviation Program.

"While the innovative ideas are not common in Uganda, and the dogmatic approach of either white or black on any given matter, we wish to employ the CMA to exercise caution in this regard and appreciate what we are doing. We are not a publicly-traded company hence impossible to register this program with CMA although we would be open to some sort of arrangement that can make room for a such a program to be supervised by CMA," stated part of the 

 

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