Kampala Central Deputy Mayor Hanipher Mpungu has asked the Nakawa Chief Magistrates Court to release her on bail. She faces charges of obtaining money under false pretenses. These charges stem from events in Ntinda, Kampala district, between May and June 2022 when Mpungu allegedly received Shillings 450 million from Grace Tony Mulinde Lugayuzi. She had promised to sell him land but failed to do so.
Mpungu appeared before Chief Magistrate Ritah Neumbe Kidasa at the Nakawa Chief Magistrates Court. There, she denied the charges and was subsequently remanded.
After spending over a month in prison, Mpungu returned to court on Wednesday to apply for bail. Her legal team, represented by Ben Wagabaza and Bashir Nyanzi, presented five sureties, including her brother, friends, and her 77-year-old father, Ali Mpungu, a retired civil servant. They informed the court of her intention to reconcile with the complainant. They also emphasized that the alleged offense did not involve violence.
The lawyers stressed that courts encourage reconciliation and requested that their client be released on bail. This would facilitate discussions and a possible settlement with the complainant outside of court, which they argued would be challenging if Mpungu remained in prison. State Attorney Doreen Elima, who represented the prosecution, stated that she did not have access to the police file and therefore could not proceed.
She also mentioned a need for time to verify the bail documents presented. Consequently, she proposed a postponement of the bail application to a later date. However, Mpungu’s legal team countered that the case had not yet reached the stage where the contents of a police file were required.
In her ruling, Chief Magistrate Kidasa adjourned the case to October 4th, 2023. This was to allow the prosecution time to verify the documents and retrieve the file. In the meantime, Mpungu was remanded to Luzira prison. If found guilty, the offense she is charged with carries a maximum prison sentence of five years.
Records show that Mpungu had previously been released on police bond on August 12, 2022, but failed to comply. Subsequently, she was summoned to court on August 23, 2023. Allegedly, her lawyer falsely claimed she was admitted to the Wellington Diabetes and Heart Centre Nakasero. However, Detective AIP Peter Abwona’s investigation found no evidence of her presence at that hospital.
The disputed land is said to belong to the Uganda Nurses and Midwives Council. This incident is not the first time the Uganda Nurses and Midwives Council has been involved in property-related fraud. In 2020, three individuals were remanded to Kitalya prison for conspiring to steal over Shillings 444 million from the Uganda Nurses and Midwives Council in a software scam. The accused reportedly received the money through an ex parte court order issued by the interdicted Masaka High Court registrar, Cissy Mudhasi, in favor of Ram Engineering Uganda Limited, with an arbitrator only identified as I. Tugumisirize.
