Kazoora to serve a year in Rwandan prison over fraud

David Kazoora, a Ugandan TV personality, will have to serve a year in jail and pay damages amounting to Rwf15 million about (64million Ugandan shillings) after losing an appeal against a lower court decision.

According to The New Times, the celebrated emcee and television presenter, popularly known as Junior Kazoora, was convicted by the Nyarugunga Primary Court for using fraudulent means to short change his business partners, a decision he appealed.

However, the Nyarugenge Intermediate Court upheld the ruling.

The Rwandan main newspaper reported on its website that Kazoora was not present when the Nyamirambo-based court made the ruling on Tuesday.

In 2014, the prosecution dragged the Ugandan TV socialite to court, accusing him of deviating an advertising tender from Buddies Production (R) Ltd, in which he was a 50 per cent shareholder, to a new company he named ‘Buddies TV Ltd.'

By so doing, Kazoora undercut his partner and co-shareholder Nina Kagenza, by creating a parallel company, apparently bearing the same features, ‘Buddies TV Ltd' and duped a client to award a tender to the new company, thereby fleecing his partner of dividends, according to prosecution.

The deal was about a second promotional campaign by Airtel (Birahebuje II), whose value was estimated at around Rwf76 million which was mistakenly handed to ‘Buddies TV Ltd' instead of Buddies Production (R) Ltd that had produced the first campaign.

The other shareholders were represented by local events promoter Davis Kagenza, who had been the managing director of Buddies Productions (R) Ltd.

Explaining how the sentence would be enforced since the convict is not a Rwandan national and has no known assets in the country, spokesperson of the courts Emmanuel Itamwa said local bailiffs would have to work with the convict's country of residence (Uganda).

"It is more like to call another country's judicial jurisdiction to validate a sentence that was issued against their citizen outside its border, so that justice can be served," he said, adding that in that case, the requested country have rights to cross-check facts before enforcing the sentence.