CMI probes Kulayigye gold deal

Mr Kamugisha (L) and Col Kulaigye

Kampala- A gold deal that went sour involving UPDF’s Chief Political Commissar Felix Kulayigye has taken a strange turn.
A man, who is said to have introduced the Congolese gold dealer to Col Kulaigye’s business partner and niece, is now appealing to UPDF for protection against army officers who he claims are threatening to kill him.

Mr Shaban Jagwe, the man at the centre of the deal, also claims that a UPDF lieutenant, whose name has been omitted due to the gravity of the accusations and legal reasons, tortured him and took his land title worth Shs700m under duress.

The saga has now sucked in top security officers with the matter now being investigated by the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI).

Mr Jagwe’s lawyers have written to the UPDF Chief of Defence Forces Katumba Wamala protesting his detention, torture and accused an army lieutenant of putting him at gunpoint before intimidating him into surrendering his land title as security to clear a $62,000 debt to Ms Brenda Murungi.

Ms Murungi and Col Kulayigye accuse Mr Jagwe of introducing the Congolese gold dealer who fleeced them and remains untraceable.

Lawyers from Musangala & Company Advocates claim that Ms Murungi approached Mr Jagwe whose only role was to connect her to Mr Dirisa Nsimbe, who knows gold dealers.

From then, Mr Jagwe never heard from her until June 22 in Nansana Municipality where he was allegedly kidnapped by a one Allan and Hakim and driven to Serena Hotel Kampala.

The lawyers mention Col Kulayigye’s name prominently in their petition and accuse him of being behind Mr Jagwe’s arrest and detention.

Col Kulayigye yesterday declined to comment on the matter, saying it is “under investigation by police. Any comment can only come from police or my lawyer”.

The lawyers also claim that Mr Jagwe was dragged to the UPDF lieutenant and Ms Murungi who were in company of other soldiers.

“It was at this point that [the UPDF lieutenant] told our client he was being held for and on behalf of Col Kulayigye and Ms Murungi who claimed to demand from him $40,000 plus operations fees of $22,000 totaling to $62,000 which arose out of a gold deal which our client didn’t know,” the letter, copied to CMI reads in part.

They also claim that their client [Mr Jagwe] was threatened with death, blindfolded, roughed up and driven to different places and later detained in an unknown place for two days between June 22 and 23.

“While in illegal detention death threats were made by his captors and told him to pay or else he would be executed,” the lawyers allege.

UPDF spokesman Lt Col Paddy Ankunda confirmed on Wednesday that the army was probing the matter because the “institution [UPDF] got concerned by these reports about the officer [Kulayigye]”.

“We have since instituted an investigation. The report is expected to be ready by close of this week, and then we shall take appropriate action,” Lt Col Ankunda said.

He also confirmed that the matter had been taken over by CMI with a colonel assigned to supervise the investigations.

How the saga started

The saga broke out two weeks ago when the media ran the story of an operation at Matrich Holdings in Ntinda.
Matrich, which trades in gold, was the place where the controversial precious mineral was taken for purity tests by Ms Murungi and an unknown Congolese dealer before she paid out $49,900 for the transaction.

A balance of $10,000 remained outstanding and it is at the point of clearing the balance that the gold suddenly turned into pavers and the Congolese man had vanished, prompting Ms Murungi to summon Col Kulayigye’s assistance. In an afternoon operation, security officers ransacked the company’s offices and arrested employees of the company.

Mr Richard Kamugisha, the managing director of Matrich and son to a UPDF Brigadier, was later arrested but was released on the orders of Lt Gen Henry Tumukunde after his lawyers had failed to secure his release by a court order.

Mr Jagwe’s lawyers claim the soldiers and Ms Murungi intimidated their client and compelled him to surrender his land title on block 12 plot 408 in Kibuga, Mengo after a hastily drafted agreement of indebtedness was signed on June 24. Lt Col Ankunda told Daily Monitor they were not sleeping as “CMI is handling that matter and we didn’t have these new facts until this letter came up”.
In the agreement, Mr Jagwe accepts to compensate Ms Murungi and pledges his land title in the name of John Bosco Muwonge from whom he acquired it in March 2011.
His lawyers insist the agreement, which was extracted under duress, authorises Ms Murungi to sell the land to recover her debt and if after two months no buyer is found, the two parties shall agree on a new payment modality.[email protected]