In Uganda, Commission chairperson Sylvia Muwebwa Granted Bail
Jailed Equal Opportunities Commission chairperson Sylvia Muwebwa Ntambi has been granted bail by the Anti-Corruption court in Kampala.
Ntambi who is facing charges of causing financial loss, embezzlement, corruption, abuse of office and conspiracy to defraud leading to a Shs 35 million loss to government was last week remanded to Kigo prison. Today, she was granted bail by the Grade One magistrate Moses Nabende and was asked to deposit a cash bail of Shs 3.5 million, deposit her passport and a land title with the court.
Her three sureties who were all her friends and two lawyers were each been asked to execute a non-cash bond of Shs 40 million. They include Sylvia Namubiru the director Legal Aid Service Providers Network (LASPNET), Patricia Munabi Babiha the executive director of Forum for Women in Democracy and Julius Mukunda the executive director of Civil Society Budget Advocacy Group (CSBAG).
Her release followed a second bail application by Ntambi’s lawyer MacDusman Kabega who argued that the applicant had substantial sureties and that the offences against her were bailable.
Ntambi last week was denied bail by the magistrate Pamela Lamunu Ochaya on grounds that her sureties didn’t have necessary documents for easier purposes of identification and she was then advised to reapply for bail today when she gets the requirements.
Ntambi is jointly charged with her assistants at the Equal Opportunities Commission including Agnes Enid Kamahoro, Moses Mugabe, Mpitsi Mujuni, Ronnie Kwesiga, Manasseh Kwihangana, Harriet Byangire, Evans Jjemba, Sarah Nassanga and Sunday Nicholas Olwor.
The prosecution alleges that Ntambi conspired with her assistants to steal money which they accessed by the virtue of the different offices they hold. The money was obtained between January and December 2018, as per diem for editing and drafting Equal Opportunities Commission HIV/AIDS workplace policy, yet none of the officials was reportedly entitled to it.
The prosecution alleges that the per diem was acquired by Kamahoro, the senior personal secretary Equal Opportunities Commission and later approved irregularly by Mujuni, the secretary to the Commission, an act which caused financial loss to the government.
It is also alleged that part of the stolen funds had been earmarked for sensitization on equity and rights issues in lower local governments in Karamoja region. The group has since denied the charges, released on bail and interdicted to pave way for investigations.
The case returns to court on November 24, 2020, for mention.
