KAMPALA: Three leaders of carpenters along Nsambya-Ggaba road have been remanded to Luzira prison on charges of stealing 132 million shillings meant for relocating carpenters to pave way for the construction of the Kampala flyover.
Accused: Saddam Moses, 55, Kennedy Mugoya, 41, and Edward Kagiri, 43, all directors of NSACARJA in Nsambya, have appeared in court to take their plea. They are all charged with fraud.
It is alleged that in February, UNRA sent 427 million shillings to the NSACARJA account to facilitate the relocation of over 1,500 carpenters from a road reserve in which they had operated for more than 20 years, in order to allow for the construction of the first-ever flyover in Kampala.
A group of carpenters and their leaders disagreed about how to spend money that was meant for a specific purpose. They called the statehouse anti-corruption unit because they thought their leaders were misusing the money. The statehouse anti-corruption unit then started an investigation.
From the investigations, it is alleged that the accused could not account for 132 million out of the 427 which were given to them, hence being arraigned before the court to answer.
The accused, however, pleaded not guilty to the offence and requested bail. Even though they had all the necessary paperwork and sureties, the bail application was turned down because it would take a long time to hear. They were sent to Luzira prison until March 31, when the court will decide their bail application.
The relocation of these carpenters started on Friday last week and was completed on Sunday, though many have been hesitant to relocate to this new area for different reasons.
And since investigations into the matter started, the government team overseeing the reallocation of these people put aside the leadership under Saddam and instituted an interim committee led by Ivan Ainebyona.
