The Anti-Corruption Court has granted bail to six of the nine government officials accused of orchestrating a Shs 60 billion fraud by manipulating payment systems.
Presiding over the case on Monday, Justice Lawrence Gidudu approved bail amounts ranging from Shs 20 million to Shs 30 million, depending on the suspects’ level of involvement and charges.
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Each surety was required to execute a non-cash bond between Shs 200 million and Shs 300 million. The accused were also ordered to surrender their land titles and passports to the court and were barred from accessing their offices. Additionally, they must report to the court registrar beginning April 3, 2025.
The officials granted bail include:
- Lawrence Ssemakula, Accountant General, Ministry of Finance
- Jennifer Muhuruzi, Acting Director of Treasury Services and Asset Management
- Paul Nkalubo Lumala, IT Systems Officer
- Deborah Dorothy Kusiima, Senior Accountant, Treasury Services Department
- Judith Ashaba, Accountant
- Bettina Nayebare, Research Assistant
However, Mark Kasiiku (IT Systems Officer) and Tonny Yawe (Senior IT Officer) were denied bail and remanded. Justice Gidudu noted that Kasiiku played a key role in disguising a fraudulent $6.1 million payment to a Japanese company, while Yawe allegedly manipulated the EFMis system to alter payment records. Both were instructed to reapply for bail with stronger security assurances.
The ninth suspect, Pedison Twesigomwe, Assistant Commissioner for Accounts at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, was charged two weeks earlier and did not apply for bail. He remains on remand along with Kasiiku and Yawe.
Fraud Allegations
The prosecution contends that Ssemakula and Muhuruzi failed to implement protective measures, resulting in a $652,588.2 loss to the Ugandan government. Yawe is accused of altering payment instruction files from the International Development Association (IDA) in Washington and diverting funds to Roadway Company Ltd. in Poland under the guise of purchasing recycling plant machinery. Twesigomwe is charged with aiding the fraudulent scheme, which allegedly aimed to enrich Roadway Company.
The group faces 11 charges, including corruption, financial loss, electronic fraud, and money laundering.
Investigation Findings
Initial police probes revealed that the funds vanished from the Bank of Uganda (BoU) in September 2024, later surfacing in accounts in the UK and Asian countries like Japan. The Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID), alongside Defense Intelligence and Security (DIS), ruled out hacking as the cause, confirming that the heist resulted from an internal fraud scheme.
Following President Yoweri Museveni’s directive, DIS assisted in the investigation. By the end of 2024, at least 21 individuals from BoU, the Ministry of Finance, and the Accountant General’s office had been interrogated, with their electronic devices confiscated for examination.
Authorities managed to recover over half of the Shs 60 billion through UK banks. However, funds transferred to Asia remain unrecovered. Investigators suspect that some of the withdrawn money was either smuggled back into Uganda as cash or used to purchase goods for the fraud’s beneficiaries.
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