Kakoba SACCO (Savings and Credit Cooperative Organisation) manager Edmond Sajabi has been charged with embezzling Sh500m from the savings of the cooperative’s members.
Sajabi was charged with embezzlement at the Anti-Corruption Court in Nakasero before Chief Magistrate Joan Aciro. He was charged with the offence contrary to Section 19 (b) (ii) of the Anti-Corruption Act, 2009, as amended.
The offence of embezzlement carries a penalty of up to 14 years in prison, a fine of Sh4.8m, or both on conviction. Also, a person convicted under the same Act is barred from holding a public office for a period of 10 years.
Sajabi, a resident of Mwere cell, Biharwe ward, Mbarara North Division in Mbarara City, was charged on August 19, 2024, alongside Leonard Tumuhimbise, an Information Technology officer at Kakoba in Mbarara City, a resident of Mbarara North Division.
The prosecution, led by Chief State Attorney Nelly Asiku from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), alleges that between 2020 and 2022, while employed by the Kakoba Mbarara Cooperative Savings and Credit Society (SACCO) as a manager and Information Technology officer, Sajabi and Tumuhimbise stole funds from the SACCO’s head office located at Kihindi Cell, Kakoba Ward, South Division in Mbarara City.
The prosecution alleges that Sajabi and Tumuhimbise stole Sh508m, the property of Kakoba SACCO. Both accused denied the charges and were remanded to Luzira Prison until August 21, 2024, after their bail application was deferred.
Chief State Attorney Asiku informed the court that inquiries into the case are still ongoing and requested additional time to allow the police to complete their investigations.
“The court will not entertain this bail application. The accused are remanded until August 21, 2024,” Aciro said.
