Aya boss cleared of sexual abuse

Kampala- The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has closed the case of sexual assault against the Aya Group chairman, Mr Mohammed Hamid Mohammed, due to lack of sufficient evidence to support the charges.

The DPP has also closed the case on physical assault against the businessman for same reasons.
Mr Hamid had been accused of sexually abusing his former female employee Jamila Opondo and assaulting her at his Hilton Hotel in Kampala about a year ago.

“The sexual harassment case was closed by this office and the file returned to the police. The complainant [Ms Opondo] was called and briefed about it and the reasons why we could not take the matter to court,” Ms Jane Okuo Kajuga, the DPP spokesperson, told Daily Monitor on Monday.

“The evidence we got as we investigated this matter was not reliable. There were so many inconsistencies with different accounts of events. For sexual assault charges, considering the time span, it was very difficult to verify the allegations that the Aya boss sexually harassed her in his office. No evidence was there to corroborate her allegations,” Ms Okuo added.

The withdrawal of the charges means Mr Hamid is now a free man unless fresh evidence is brought forth to pin him. “In fact, in some allegations, the police found evidence that was directly contrary to what the complainant told us. For example, where she stated that she was assaulted physically by Mr Hamid, the witnesses who were there, gave contrary evidence,” Ms Okuo further said.

The two case files originated from Old Kampala Police Station and Kampala Central Police Station (CPS) before they were transferred to Kibuli for further action.

Accusations
The sexual abuse allegations against Mr Hamid came into the limelight last year after Ms Opondo told NTV Uganda, a sister station to Daily Monitor, that the hotelier used to invite her to his office under pretence of seeking updates on work from her but would instead sexually molest her.

In the course of investigations, state Minister for Labour Herbert Kabafunzaki was sucked into the mud when he was arrested for allegedly soliciting and receiving a Shs5m bribe from Mr Hamid in exchange for “clearing” his name, in the media, of the alleged claims of sexual abuse.

The minister has since been suspended from cabinet pending his prosecution in the Anti-Corruption Court.At the commencement of the sexual abuse allegations, women rights activists demanded that the case be expedited for Mr Hamid to stand trial.

Mr Hamid had denied the allegations and said it was a scheme by Ms Opondo to extort money from him.

Reacting to the withdrawal of charges against Mr Hamid, Ms Sylvia Namubiru Mukasa, the executive director of Legal Aid Service Providers Network-Laspnet, said:
“It’s important that in cases of public interest, the DPP should give a statement to the public about the major developments like closing the file. Of course, the Constitution protects the DPP from giving reasons for his decisions but at least the wide public should be informed through the public relations office.

Mr George Musisi, the programme manager of Foundation for Human Rights Initiative, one of the civil society organisations that were pursuing Ms Opondo’s matter, claimed the case collapsed because of influence peddling.

“I don’t blame the DPP because three key witnesses had recorded their statements by telling the police how they witnessed these events but upon the stories coming out in the media, they [key witnesses] recorded fresh statements at Kibuli and changed their initial accounts of the events.

However, he said he was happy the complainant was compensated her three months’ salary she was demanding.

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