Francis Wodero, a Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) officer, has been remanded by the Anti-Corruption Court over accusations of abuse of office, resulting in significant revenue loss. The court, presided over by Her Worship Asiimwe Esther, charged Wodero with unlawfully uplifting Value Added Tax (VAT) amounting to UGX 301,100,831/=.
During the proceedings, the prosecution, represented by Hilda Atusimiire and Patricia Ndagire, alleged that Wodero breached his duties by manipulating VAT assessments without proper justification. They stated that Wodero, serving as a Tax Office at URA, falsely adjusted VAT in favor of Service and Computer Industries (U) Ltd for the period between August 2014 to April 2015 under the guise of addressing credit notes.
“At the hearing on December 29th, 2021, Wodero, in his capacity at URA, lifted VAT without lawful justification, purportedly to account for credit notes, which was not the case,” Atusimiire elaborated before the court.
Wodero, refuting the charges against him, sought bail through his lawyer, Herbert Kidiya. However, the Magistrate deemed the presented sureties insufficient, leading to the denial of bail.
As a result, Wodero will remain in custody at Luzira prison until the next hearing scheduled for July 3rd, 2024.
