Our Reporter,

The matter in which the city businessman and company director at Taifa Partners Limited, Emmanuel Asiimwe is accused of forging and uttering false documents has been adjourned to February 9, 2024.

Asiimwe appeared in court on Thursday before the Chief Magistrate – Buganda Road, His Worship Ronald Kayizzi with a new lawyer who sought for adjournment on account that her senior counsel is busy sitting for examinations. The Buganda Road Chief Magistrate adjourned the matter and issued a last warning to the accused since the witnesses some of whom travel from upcountry get inconvenienced.

Despite having all six witnesses in court whenever the matter comes up, the trial that started last year has been slow. This is partly attributed to the fact that Asiimwe keeps bringing on board new lawyers who ask for ample time to read through the file.

Ironically only one witness and former shareholder Charles Okello has been cross-examined since last year. During the cross-examination however, Okello pinned his co-director Asiimwe for forging his signature and making special company resolutions without his knowledge, and certified documents were submitted to the Chief Magistrate and put on court record.

Okello is a former worker at Asiimwe’s other company, Integrated Agritech Uganda Ltd as a mechanical engineer and was appointed director after he bought 5 percent shares in Taifa Partners Ltd. He told court that after allotting him 5 shares, 10 shares were also allotted to Assa Tumwesigye (also director with powers of attorney) and Asiimwe was appointed the Managing Director with 85 shares in the company. While serving as the Managing Director, he made a special resolution on November 23, 21 and appointed Okello a company secretary. After a short time, he made another resolution transferring the 10 shares meant for Tumwesigye to himself. He possibly did this to acquire 95 percent shares to make it difficult for other shareholders to demand a poll in making decisions. As a Managing Director with a sole signatory role, he accessed all the company accounts. At some point, Asiimwe recalled Okello from upcountry and told him to raise money so that they further grow the company but the latter was not in position to. Asiimwe coerced him to sell his 5 shares and they were allotted to another investing company, Dapanti Union whose directors were not mentioned in court.

With Okello and Tumwesigye ceasing to be directors at Taifa Partners Limited, Dapanti Union came on board. Later Okello was stripped of the role of company secretary. He continued working as a mere company mechanical engineer till February this year when he ceased to have any business with Taifa Partners Ltd.

It should be noted around August this year, Tumwesigye whose shares were transferred through a special resolution without his knowledge confronted Okello and blamed him for conniving with Asiimwe to revoke the powers of attorney to sign contracts with Uganda Prisons and Rwimi Agro processing plant.

It was at this point that forgery was detected, Okello started realizing that most of the documents carried his name as company secretary with a forged signature since he would not even be in Kampala at the time the documents were signed.

On landing some documents with his name and a forged signature, he gave instructions to a law firm to dig up other documents from various offices including URSB. To his utter shock, more than 5 documents that were tendered in court without Asiimwe’s lawyer objection were forged.

As the matter is adjourned to February 9, Asiimwe remains in trouble since forging resolutions to give self, powers of attorney – once prosecuted very well may attract a life sentence.

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The former Managing Director of the National Social Security Fund (NSSF), David Chandi Jamwa, has applauded President Yoweri Museveni for his benevolence, kindness, and sympathy.

Jamwa said this a few hours after President Museveni pardoned him.

At his release, Jamwa had spent four years in jail. He was released alongside Ntale Vincent, Drabo Nelson, Omirambe James, Aliama Samuel, Leku Francis, Kabila Joseph, Yoha Ayitia, alias Samu, Kato Fred, and Owino Jackson.

“I am so grateful to the president, Gen Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, for his magnanimity, benevolence, kindness, sympathy, and mercy. We shall continue thanking him and his establishment,” Jamwa said.

He said, “My release came as a surprise. Once we found out that the prerogative of mercy had been exercised, we could only be grateful. The situation at Luzira is quite challenging. It is an experience that changes you for the better. I thank God for keeping me alive.

Jamwa was found guilty of causing financial loss to NSSF in February 2011 and subsequently sentenced to 12 years by the Anti-Corruption Court.

Through his lawyers, Jamwa applied for bail and was later released pending the hearing of his petition in the Supreme Court over the lower court’s decision that convicted him and sentenced him to 12 years in prison.

His bail was, however, cancelled in January 2018 after appellate court judges Kenneth Kakuru and Opiyo Aweri upheld the anti-corruption court’s decision. Subsequently, Jamwa, who had been on bail for seven years, was sent back to Luzira prison.

Jamwa was convicted of corruption and sentenced to 12 years in prison after anti-corruption Judge John Bosco Katutsi found him guilty of selling National Social Security Fund (NSSF) bonds to the now-defunct Crane Bank before their maturity date, resulting in a financial loss of Shs3.1 billion. He also banned him for 10 years from holding any public office.

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The Governments of the Republic of Uganda and the Central African Republic have signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Military Cooperation during a bilateral meeting that was held at Skyz Hotel, Naguru.

 Speaking at the meeting, the Minister of Defence and Veteran Affairs, Vincent Bamulangaki Ssempijja said that today marks a milestone between the two countries and reiterated Uganda’s commitment to the military partnership with the Central African Republic.

“Uganda has always been committed to promoting peace and stability in the region and we strongly believe that the best to achieve this is through cooperation and collaboration with our neighbours. Our defence partnership with CAR is a testament to this commitment, and we will continue to work together to ensure that our region remains peaceful and prosperous,” said Ssempijja.

Ssempijja commended the unconditional support the government of CAR gave to Uganda during last year’s repatriation of the ex-combatants of the Lord’s Resistance Army from the Zemio and Mboki camps in CAR.

 The Minister of National Defence and Army Reconstruction of the Central African Republic, Claude Rameaux BIREAU said that the focus of the MoU on military cooperation is to normalize the partnership aimed at building the operational capacity of the Central African Armed Forces.

He thanked the government of Uganda for sending the UPDF at the peak of LRA activities in CAR.

Rameaux expressed his country’s desire to benchmark the professionalism of the Uganda Peoples’/Defence Forces which he described as a role model. He added that they hope to learn from the UPDF in terms of production and technological support and in the future, they wish to sign an Economic Agreement.

Earlier, during the session of the Chief of Defence and Chief of Defence Staff, the Joint Chief of Staff, Maj Gen Leopold Kyanda who represented the UPDF Chief of Defence Forces observed that the cooperation of CAR through the African Union Regional Task Force was crucial in degrading the LRA whose remnants have since renounced the rebellion.

Gen Kyanda further said that the MoU is a milestone in cementing the relationship between the two countries/militaries and will go a long way in consolidating their cooperation.

Brig Gen Arcadius Betibangui who represented the Chief of Defence Staff of the Central African Armed Forces called for the need to fast-track the MoU by exploiting the various areas of cooperation.

The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding comes against the backdrop of an earlier MoU that was signed in 2017 and expired in 2022.

Present at the function were members of the Joint Technical Committee from the two respective militaries.

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The Committee on Defence and Internal Affairs has indicated that the Uganda Prisons Service (UPS) requires Shs79.973 billion to cater for outstanding arrears for prisoners’ feeding accrued by Financial Year 2023/2024.

Committee chairperson Wilson Kajwengye said this while presenting a report on the National Budget Framework Paper for Financial Year 2024/2025 before the Budget Committee of Parliament.

According to the committee report, the daily average of 81,729 prisoners is fed at Shs5,000 per prisoner per day, including food from prison farms. A supplementary budget of Shs79 billion was provided to take care of arrears that stood at Shs158.94 billion as of Financial Year 2022/23, hence leaving a shortfall of Shs79.943 billion.

The report shows that a recommendation was made for the prioritization of funding worth Shs18 billion for the construction of a mini-max prison in Mbarara District to check on the congestion at prison facilities.

Kajwengye said that by January 2024, the prisoner population stood at 77,316, yet Uganda Prisons has an approved capacity of 20,996, implying that 56,320 prisoners are in excess of the approved capacity.

He attributed the congestion in Uganda’s prisons to delayed justice from the judiciary and a slow pace in increasing the holding capacity of prisons.

“There is a need to enhance access to justice through prisons’ alignment with courts of law and the timely production of prisoners to court by procuring transport machinery, among others,” Kajwengye said.

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The First Lady Janet Kataha Museveni has praised Business Tycoon Sudhir Rupareila for the great work done in constructing and beautifying the Speke Resort Convention Centre in Munyonyo which is currently hosting the Non-Alignment Movement conference.

Janet Museveni applauded Sudhir while inspecting the facilities of the Convention Centre ahead of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and G77+China Heads of State and Government Summits.

“I would like to express my appreciation to the Ruparelia Group for their commendable work in preparing the Convention Centre for these Summits. Their attention to detail and level of preparedness is truly praiseworthy,” Janet applauded.

She added, “However, I want to emphasize the importance of maintaining these high standards. It is crucial to conduct continuous checks on all amenities, ensuring they remain in excellent working condition not only during the Summits but also in the future.”

This visit reaffirmed Uganda’s commitment to hosting successful international events, showcasing the best of what Uganda has to offer, and ensuring that every guest experiences the warmth and hospitality for which the nation is known.

The convention centre has a multipurpose hall, 12 high-end conference/breakaway meeting rooms and a floating restaurant that can host more than 900 guests, with an extraordinary view of Africa’s largest freshwater lake⏤ Lake Victoria.

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