I am being persecuted, UDB boss tells court

Kampala- The Chief Executive Officer of Uganda Development Bank (UDB), Ms Patricia Ojangole, yesterday took to the dock and said she is being “persecuted” and not “prosecuted” by former staff of the bank.

Ms Ojangole made the revelation before the Anti-Corruption Court after presiding judge Lawrence Gidudu ruled that she has a case to answer in regard to the charges of conflict of interest that she is facing.

The accusation
The 36-year old CEO is accused of having influenced her own recruitment process that culminated in her appointment as CEO of the bank on November, 30, 2012, a move which the IGG says amounts to a charge of “conflict of interest”.

“I am being persecuted and not prosecuted by a group of staff that left the bank…” said Ms Ojangole in her defence, adding: “I wish to state that the allegations are not correct. I believe this is not an offence but it is about people who didn’t want me in office in the capacity of CEO. This has not just started, it’s still going on and I don’t know when it will end...”

During cross-examination by public prosecutor Sydney Asubo, Ms Ojangole was tasked to name the former staff who are persecuting her.

The ‘persecutors’
After several moments of pondering, she named her alleged tormentors as; Gabriel Etou, the former CEO, Ms Lydia Kabenge, the former Acting Company Secretary/head of HR, and Charlotte Mucuguzi, the former Principal Project Analyst.

She said the trio are tormenting her just because they believe that the audit report that she engineered, led to their eventual sacking and that this could be a way of revenge.

Asked to explain how the trio ex-staff was persecuting her, Ms Ojangole did not have a straight answer but she said that they were ‘using all available means’ to see her out of the bank.

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