Two employees of the Uganda Railway Corporation (URC) have been remanded by the Anti-Corruption court on charges of causing a financial loss to the government totaling more than Shs 146 million.
The accused are Nicholas Kakooza, a mechanical engineer, and Peter Chrys Katwebaze, an assistant chief mechanical engineer, both residents of Kiira Division in Wakiso district. The suspects appeared before Acting Senior Principal Grade One Magistrate Abert Asiimwe, who read to them one count of causing financial loss. They are jointly charged with Stanley Sendegeya, who was not present in court.
According to the court, in August 2021, at URC offices located at Plot 57 Nasser Road in Kampala, the accused persons facilitated the irregular payment of an additional sum of $38,200 (approximately Shs 146 million) to Kenya Railway Corporation for security and transportation of four used locomotives. These locomotives had already been transported from Chwangame Mombasa to URC’s workshop in Nalukolongo, Kampala. The payments had already been made to the provider, GPR Leasing Africa, under the contract for the supply, delivery, training, and commissioning of the four used locomotives.
The prosecution, led by Gloria Inzikuru, informed the court that investigations into the matter are in their final stages. She requested the court to issue criminal summons against Sendegeya to appear and enter a plea. The suspects denied the charges and applied for bail, citing their status as senior citizens.
They presented two workmates and a third individual as sureties, whom the prosecution contested as unsubstantial since they failed to provide evidence indicating their employment with Uganda Railway Corporation. The proposed sureties were identified as Ochaki Namara Abuberkerer, the Chief Operations Officer, and David Musiime Katanisa, Principal Operating Officer in charge of the Marines at Uganda Railways Corporation, along with Charles Luzigye, Commissioner of Maritime Administration in the Ministry of Works and Transport.
The suspects informed the court that they had been under investigation since 2021 and had diligently complied with their bond requirements. They stated that this was their first encounter with criminal allegations and emphasized their positions of responsibility. Katwebaze mentioned the recent loss of his wife, making him the sole breadwinner for his family.
The court also learned that Kakooza has dependents who would suffer if he were not granted bail. However, the magistrate declined to grant bail, citing a conflict of interest and the possibility that the sureties might be called upon as prosecution witnesses in the future.
He explained that other staff members of Uganda Railway Corporation were already undergoing trial, and he sought to spare them potential embarrassment in case they were called upon to testify against the individuals they had stood surety for. Asiimwe remanded Kakooza and Katwebaze to Luzira Prison until Friday. Criminal summons were also issued for Sendegeya, who had previously faced charges at Buganda Road Court and was released on bail.
