NFA boss' wife charged over 900m scam

Oct 20, 2009

THE Government is investigating the circumstances under which the National Forestry Authority boss and his brothers acquired the sh900m, reportedly stolen by his wife.

By Herbert Ssempogo,
Charles Ariko and David Anyoli


THE Government is investigating the circumstances under which the National Forestry Authority boss and his brothers acquired the sh900m, reportedly stolen by his wife.

Water and environment minister Maria Mutagamba yesterday announced that an investigating team was looking into the saga, pitting Damian Akankwasa against his wife, Juliet Katusiime.

“We are looking into this matter although the money is not ours. We need to know where it came from,” Mutagamba stated.

She declined to disclose the members of the probe team, for fear of interference, but said they will also probe other matters like the recent theft of tree seeds worth over sh300m.

However, she said preliminary findings indicated that embattled Akankwasa had not dipped his fingers into NFA coffers.
“He has appeared before the board and the top policy organ of the ministry and has explained that the money belonged to him and his relatives,” she told the press at the Media Centre, Kampala.

“The finance officials have told us that NFA money has not been touched and there has not been any transaction on the accounts.”

But should the probe find him culpable, she pointed out, Akankwasa would be asked to step down to pave way for further action.

Mutagamba refuted media reports that Akankwasa was suspended.

According to NFA board chairman Baguma Isoke, nobody had formally complained to the Inspectorate of Government against Akankwasa.

Yesterday, his wife was charged with three counts of theft before the City Hall magistrate.

On count one, Katusiime is accused of stealing sh100m belonging to her husband. On the second count, she is accused of stealing sh400m belonging to her brother-in-law, George William Akankwasa.

On the third count, she is accused of stealing another sh400m from another brother-in-law, John Bagambe.

In a statement in the press earlier, Akankwasa, through his lawyer, said all the money belonged to his two brothers and their business associates.

Dressed in a black blouse and grey skirt, Katusiime denied the charges before Grade One Magistrate Sarah Mponye.

Asked by the magistrate whether she stole the money, she replied: “It’s not true. I did not steal the money.” She was granted cash bail of sh2m after her lawyer, Sebastian Orach, applied for it.
Her younger brother, Patrick Wandera, and a family friend, Mercy Bunjo, stood as her sureties and were each bonded to a sum of sh10m, not cash.

The State Attorney, Robert Kirungi, told the court that the Police had completed their investigations into the case.
According to the prosecution, the money that was kept in three suitcases at Akankwasa’s home, was stolen when he had left home for work.

Akankwasa and his brothers, George William Akankwasa and John Bagambe, had reportedly pooled the money for the purchase of a plot of land in Kawempe for which the owner was demanding sh1b.

At the time the money disappeared, the three brothers had reportedly raised sh900m over a period of six months and were still looking for an additional sh100m to pay for the sh1b plot.

Earlier, in his statement, Akankwasa maintained that the seller had to go on an urgent business trip on the agreed day and could, therefore, not receive the money.

According to the prosecution, after the alleged theft, the wife was seen being driven in an army - green Land Cruiser bearing a personalised number plate - JKR. Katusiime maintains that she did not know about the money and did not steal it.

She told The New Vision that she left after a domestic disagreement with her husband, taking with her only two suitcases that contained her clothes.

Katusiime is expected back in court on November 26 when the case will be heard.

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