Court issues criminal summons for teacher over sh80m salary scam

PUBLIC SERVICE | SCAM

KAMPALA - City Hall Court has issued criminal summons against a teacher of Real Quality Nursery and Primary School in Nansana Municipality for skipping court.

Grade One Magistrate Moses Nabende issued the summons against 46-year-old Harriet Galenda on Tuesday.

"This habit of the accused is sick without medical proof cannot be tolerated in my court. Therefore criminal summons are issued for Galenda," he ruled.

Galenda is battling charges of theft together with Wilberforce Sajja, 35, a head teacher at Progressive Primary School in the city suburbs of Najjera and former account assistant in the public service ministry Samuel Keddi, 56.

It is alleged that between September 2012 and February 2017, the accused conspired to steal sh80m from the public service ministry as salaries and benefits for Galenda, purporting to be a personal assistant to former vice president Specioza Wandira Kazibwe, whereas not.

Nabende also warned Galenda's sureties that court would be moved to jail each of them if they fail to produce Galenda in court on July 6, when the case would be heard.

"I am warning you sureties that next time you may not go back home. If you know that the accused is playing with you, report to court for action because she assured this court that you would be able to produce her in court whenever required," Nabende said.

State attorney Jackie Kyasimire informed court that the file has been forwarded to the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for a second opinion on the proceedings.

"This case is coming up for hearing. However we are unable to proceed because accused number three is not in court and even the file was forwarded to the DPP for a second opinion," she said.

Meanwhile, court also issued witness summons for ex-VP Kazibwe to testify in the case.

Court documents indicate that the trio conspired and stole the money in question pretending to be salaries and other benefits for a one Galenda who purported to be a personal assistant to Kazibwe.

According to police investigations, the ministry's payroll was hacked into by a group of thugs headed by a 35-year-old teacher and millions of shillings had been fraudulently paid out as pension to non-pensioners for the past 10 years.

Following the report, police detectives attached to the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) carried out a search and arrested Sajja while at his school in Najjera. Later his co-accused Keddi and Galenda were also arrested.

According to the ministry's Permanent Secretary Catherine Bitarakwate Musingwiire, she contacted Kazibwe for inquiries on whether she knew Galenda as her personal assistant but she denied knowledge of Galenda and instead clarified that she submitted the name of Julian Kizza.

Musingwiire said upon checking with the Integrated Pay Person System (IPPS), it indicated Galenda had never been a personal assistant of Kazibwe but was receiving payment as a pensioner yet no record showed she had ever worked in public service.

According to Musingwiire, they carried out investigations which disclosed that Galenda had been receiving pension since 2013.

Robert Okimat, 40, a vehicle mechanic based in Wandegeya who is suspected to be among the fraudsters, is still on run. He has been also allegedly receiving pension payments amounting to sh800, 000 every year since 2009.

According to Police, the accused and others still at large hacked into the payroll system and have been receiving pension payments since 2006.

Court documents indicate that the accused also acquired letters of undertaking from the ministry and got loans from the bank, stating that part of the alleged "pension" would then be used to service their loans.