EX-POST BANK MD OFF THE HOOK! Judge Blasts “Baseless, Vindictive” Internal Auditor as 8-Year Sh292m Case Collapses

Former Post Bank Uganda managing director Stephen Mukweli (L) is finally a free man

Former Post Bank Uganda managing director Stephen Mukweli is finally a free man after the Anti-Corruption Court tore apart the state’s entire case and acquitted him of all criminal charges.

Mukweli had been accused of authorising a Shs 292 million commission payment during the bank’s bid for the Social Assistance Grants for Empowerment (SAGE) programme back in 2016.

During preparations for the bid, businessman Jude Muhereza Kachoboye was engaged by the bank as a commission agent.

The prosecution alleged that senior officials of the business growth department, together with the bank’s top leadership, irregularly initiated, approved, and executed a commission payment to him after the bank’s successful bid.

Mukweli, as managing director, was accused of authorising the payment. Alex Kayaayo and Fred Samuel Wasike were alleged to have irregularly forwarded the requisition for approval, while Gilbert Nuwamanya was accused of improperly initiating it.

Jackson Mwesigwa, then general manager finance, was said to have irregularly processed and effected the payment. All six accused, including Kachoboye, later faced an additional count of conspiracy to defraud.

But in a hard-hitting ruling, Justice Jane Okuo Kajuga declared that prosecutors failed to prove even a single element of wrongdoing against him or the five other accused officials.

The court heard that Post Bank had openly engaged businessman Jude Muhereza Kachoboye as a commission agent while pursuing the SAGE contract—an arrangement thoroughly discussed at every level, from the business growth department to the executive committee. Nothing was done in secret.

Prosecutors claimed the bank suffered a loss, but documents and testimonies told a different story:

Post Bank actually earned more than Shs 8 billion from the SAGE deal by 2019.

Justice Kajuga ruled that calling the commission a “loss” was not only misleading but flatly contradicted by facts.

On conspiracy charges, the judge found zero evidence that anyone plotted to defraud the bank or the government. All discussions and approvals were part of a legitimate business strategy—and the bank profited massively.

“While it was clear that the accused held discussions and agreed to hire Kachoboye as a commission agent, it is the court’s decision that there was nothing to indicate that the arrangement was designed to cheat the bank or the government,” the court ruled.

In a dramatic twist, the judge also revealed that the entire investigation and prosecution had leaned heavily on the narrative of Internal Auditor Edwin Keronga—whose evidence was labelled “baseless, misguided, and vindictive.” Investigators had treated him as a whistleblower, yet his performance report to the board contradicted his own allegations.

Both Auditor General reports tendered in court confirmed the same thing:

Post Bank made billions—not losses—from the SAGE project.

With assessors agreeing that the accused had no case to answer, Justice Kajuga entered not-guilty verdicts on all charges, ordered that all bail money and securities be refunded, and discharged all sureties.

The state has 14 days to appeal—but for now, Mukweli and his co-accused walk

free after eight years of legal turmoil.