Kampala. The Anti-Corruption Court last evening remanded to Luzira prison the Minister without Portfolio Abraham Byandala, in connection with more than Shs24 billion government lost in the botched upgrade of the Mukono-Katosi road.
Minister Byandala, alongside four other suspects, expected to regain their freedom upon taking plea, but the presiding Principal Grade One Magistrate Julius Borore had other plans.
The magistrate said he will hear their bail application on August 11 on grounds that interlocutory applications are heard on separate dates with plea taking.
His ruling stunned a host of defence lawyers led by Robert Kagoro, who protested that hearing of bail is a constitutional right and that no good reason was given as to why the magistrate could not hear their bail application for their clients.
Relatives of the accused persons shed tears as their people were driven to Luzira prison. The minister, who was brought to court shortly after 2pm, occasionally wiped his eyes with a handkerchief. Thirty minutes later, he was led to the fully-packed courtroom where two counts of abuse of office, one count of disobedience of lawful orders, and one count of influence peddling, were read to him.
In response to the charges, the minister who was clad in navy blue suit with a light blue shirt, replied: “Totally false.”
The other suspects
The other suspects charged before the Kololo-based court included Mr Berunado Kimeze, 54, the former acting executive director of Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA), Joe Ssemugooma, 54, the former acting director finance and administration at UNRA, Mr Apollo Senkeeto, alias Mark Kalyesubula, 45, a businessman and Isaac Mugote, former banker with Housing Finance Bank Ltd.According to the charge sheet prepared and signed off by the Inspector General of Government (IGG) Irene Mulyagonja, the minister is accused of having abused his office while holding the Works ministry docket by a November 14, 2013 letter, when he directed the immediate signing of the contract between UNRA and EUTAW, an American construction firm that was contracted to upgrade the Katosi Road and yet the company lacked capacity to perform.
The IGG further accuses the minister, who was dropped from holding the Works docket in March this year, for having, in an August 27, 2014 letter, abused his office by ordering for the continuation of the works on the Mukono-Katosi road by Chongqing International Construction Corporation (CICO).
The ombudsman added that in so doing, the minister formalised the illegal sub-contract of the works with CICO by ensuring that an agreement is signed between EUTAW and CICO, thereby authorising UNRA to pay CICO directly well knowing that EUTAW had breached its contract with UNRA and yet the IGG had already halted the same process. In a related development, court issued criminal summons for Mr Marvin Baryaruha, 45, a former legal counsel of UNRA for having failed to appear before court to also enter plea. According to the charge sheet, Mr Baryaruha faces one count of influence peddling, one count of abuse of office and one count of corruption.