Mukula’s fate to be known on March 13

MP’s lawyers and the State prosecutor duel in court on jailed former junior health minister’s conviction.

Kampala

Former junior Health minister Mike Mukula will spend one more month in Luzira prison before he can know if his conviction
will be quashed or upheld.

Justice David Wangutusi, of the Anti-Corruption Court, set March 13 to deliver his judgment.
The Soroti Municipality MP is serving a four-year jail term for embezzling Shs210 million Global Alliance for Vaccines and
Immunisation (Gavi) funds. He was found guilty by Chief Magistrate Irene Akankwasa. However, Mukula through six of his
lawyers, has appealed against the conviction.

When the appeal came up for hearing last week, advocate David Mpanga submitted that Mukula was wrongly convicted over an embezzlement charge as he was not a government employee. He, therefore, asked court to quash Mukula’s conviction and also set aside his four-year sentence.

Mr Mpanga based his argument on a Constitutional Court ruling in 2006, where politician Darlington Sakwa unsuccessfully
argued that ministers needed to resign their posts if they wanted to contest for an political posts. “Ministers are not
employees of the government, according to the Constitutional Court ruling by then Deputy Chief Justice Laeticia Mukasa
Kikonyogo, instead they are political leaders appointed by the President who hires and fires them any time,” argued Mr
Mpanga. However, the public prosecutor, Mr Sydney Asubo, asked court to uphold the lower court’s conviction and the four-
year jail term. “The convict falls squarely under the charge of embezzlement.”

Mr Asubo asked the court to find Mukula guilty of another charge of theft in case it holds that ministers are not
government employees. However, the court ruled that ministers are not public officers and, therefore, needed not to resign
their posts if they wanted to run for an elective political post.

Mukula’s other lawyer, Mr Ateenyi Tibaijjuka, argued that Ms Akankwasa erred when she believed the prosecutions’ case that
his client had stolen the Shs210 million before she could hear his side. Mr Tibaijjuka argued that despite the fact that
his client signed the three vouchers totaling Shs263 million, he did not receive the money and it was instead kept in the
ministry’s safe.

In reply, Mr Asubo said the magistrate had to believe the prosecution case in order to ask Mukula to defend himself by
accounting for the missing Shs210 million.

During the hearing, the judge queried the prosecution on how, former Health minister Jim Muhwezi came to disburse Shs54
million to the office of the First Lady on May 14, yet the prosecution had accused Capt. Mukula of stealing the same money
on February 17. Mr Asubo said the two had been jointly charged but Mr Muhwezi was acquitted since the money was not in
contention as it was disbursed for its purpose.

aweska@ug.nationmedia.com