Free Lwamafa and Obey in loss of Shs88Bn Pension Scam – Assessors tell Court - Daily Post Uganda
National

Free Lwamafa and Obey in loss of Shs88Bn Pension Scam – Assessors tell Court

Justice Lawrence Gidudu has set 11 next month as the day he is to deliver a ruling on whether to acquit the top three suspects in the multi-billion public service pension scandal as advised by court assessors.

The prime suspects are; the former permanent secretary in the public service ministry, Jimmy Lwamafa; Christopher Obey, former principal accountant and Stephen Kiwanuka Kunsa, the former director research and development.

They are accused of perpetrating the loss of billions of worker’s money.

However, while advising the Anti-Corruption on Friday morning, the court assessors said the three have nothing do with the loss of over Shs88billions of pension money.

Vincent Ferrer and Stanley Kurung advised court that, in their opinion as assessors, prosecution did not prove that the suspects caused government a financial loss.

They argue that evidence presented showed that the money in question was paid to commercial banks, in particular Cairo Bank yet the same hadn’t been investigated.

In their opinion, it’s commercial banks that should be investigated in case there was any loss.

The courts assessors observed that the head of the CID, Grace Akullo, who unearthed the alleged fraud of Shs165 billion in the public service ministry, was never called to testify.

“In the ministry’s work plans, the item NSSF was not there and this confusion must have been introduced by Mr Josses Tegyeza onto the payment system as he had the mandate to ensure that there were no entry errors into the payment system…” Ferrer said.

“It’s therefore clear to us that if at all there was any fraud, it originated from the Cairo Bank and it can’t be linked to the accused persons. It’s therefore our opinion that the prosecution has failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt the ten charges against the suspects and I pray that you acquit them…”

The alleged crime took place over two financial years of 2010/11 and 2011/12 with the suspects alleged budgeting for NSSF contributions, well knowing that civil servants don’t contribute to the Fund.

 

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

To Top