IGG Withdraws Charges Against Five OPM Officials Accused of Embezzling Karamoja Funds

The Inspectorate of Government (IGG) has withdrawn charges against five officers who were facing prosecution over embezzlement. They were among the seven suspects in the case involving the embezzlement of 11 billion shillings under Karamoja’s Peace Initiative.

The Government formally notified the Anti-Corruption Court that it intended to discontinue proceedings against Joshua Abaho, the Senior Assistant Secretary; the Principal Assistant Secretary, Barbara Asasira; Emmy Tonny Ameny, the Assistant Commissioner Programs; Peter Amodoi, the Programs Officer; and the Assistant Secretary, Samuel Ofungi.

The notice seen by Uganda Radio Network was signed by the former Inspector General of Government, Beti Kamya Turwomwe, and dated January 6, 2024. The accused persons had been jointly charged alongside Geoffrey Sseremba, the Undersecretary and Accounting Officer, and Deogratius Masagazi, the Under Secretary/head of the Pacification and Development Program, in a case prosecuted by the Inspectorate of Government.

The matter subsequently came before the Chief Magistrate’s Court of Buganda Road attached to the Anti-Corruption Division in Kampala on January 17, 2024, for final disposal. The proceedings were presided over by Senior Principal Magistrate Grade One Abert Asiimwe, according to the records seen.

Court records indicate that State Attorneys Diana Nantabazi and William Ntumwa, representing the Inspectorate of Government, informed the court of the prosecution’s decision to discontinue proceedings against the said accused person through a formal withdrawal application dated January 16, 2024.

In a discharge order issued by the court, Magistrate Asiimwe ruled that the proceedings against the accused be discontinued and that the accused be discharged accordingly. The court further directed that a cash bail deposit of seven million shillings, which had been deposited by Emmy Tonny Ameny on June 16, 2023, be refunded.

The court ordered the release and return of his travel and property documents, including his passport and a land title. The withdrawal of charges marks a significant development in the anti-corruption case, although court documents do not specify the reasons behind the Inspectorate of Government’s decision to discontinue proceedings against the five accused persons.

The status of the proceedings against the remaining accused persons, Geoffrey Sseremba and Deogratius Masagazi, was not addressed in the discharge order. The Inspectorate of Government, Uganda’s principal anti-corruption agency, is mandated to investigate, arrest, and prosecute public officials and other individuals implicated in corruption, abuse of office, and related offences.

Further developments following the withdrawal of the charges indicate that Emmy Tonny Ameny’s interdiction from public service has also since been lifted. According to a letter dated May 22, 2024, issued by the Office of the Prime Minister and signed by Permanent Secretary Dunstan Balaba, the Public Service Commission formally noted the lifting of Ameny’s interdiction. Ameny has since been directed to report to the Office of the Prime Minister for deployment.

Ameny and other coaccused had been charged with 12 counts of causing financial loss, abuse of office, and embezzlement. It was alleged that between February and June 2022, Sseremba and Masigazi approved a total cash payment of over 4.5 billion shillings to various members of staff without a proper work plan for a genuine activity to be carried out.

The prosecution said they had reason to believe that their acts would cause financial loss, and indeed, they caused a loss of over 3.3 billion shillings to their employer.

Masigazi and Sseremba were charged with abuse of office for having arbitrarily approved the said money without following the guidelines. The prosecution argued that Masigazi and Sseremba’s conduct was prejudicial to the interests of their employer. The court also heard that in June 2022, Joshua Abaho stole over 2.4 billion shillings advanced to him for coordinating various peace-building initiatives in the Karamoja region.

According to the Prosecution, Abaho had been given a total cash payment of 2.4 billion shillings, but he never conducted the activities and thus failed to account for it. The State further alleged s that between April and June 2022, while employed as Principal Assistant Secretary, Barbara Asasira received a total cash payment of over 530 million shillings and failed to account for the entire sum.

Relatedly, Emmy Tonny Ameny, an Assistant attached to the Commissioner of Programmes, was accused of stealing two hundred and twenty-five million, five hundred and fifty thousand shillings.

Peter Amodoi was accused of stealing over one hundred million shillings. He allegedly failed to account for over 217 million shillings. The Prosecution alleged that Samuel Ofungi stole over twenty-five million shillings. It was alleged that Samuel Ofungi received over sixty-one million shillings for activities he didn’t conduct. All five suspects were cleared of the charges.

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