State House Auditor accused of stealing bishop Orombi’s cattle
Mr Chris Barungi (R) is accused of failing to produce 20 head of cattle belonging to outgoing archbishop of Church of Uganda Henry Luke Orombi.
What you need to know:
Denial. Mr Chris Barungi, however, denies taking the cattle and tasks his accuser to produce documentary evidence to that effect.
Kampala
A senior State House official is facing charges of theft after he allegedly failed to produce 20 head of cattle given to him for custody.
Trouble started for Mr Chris Barungi when the lady chosen to take care of the animals, Ms Naome K. Tumusiime, entrusted some of the animals with the auditor as her farm was allegedly too small to handle all the cattle. The animals are said to belong to outgoing Church of Uganda Archbishop Henry Luke Orombi that he was given when he visited North Ankole Diocese in 2007.
Mr Barungi was first arrested in April after he jumped criminal summons to appear before the Chief Magistrate in Mbarara. “Whereas your attendance is necessary to answer a charge of stealing cattle c/s 264 of PCA. You are hereby commanded by the government to appear in the court on the 4th day of April 2012..,” read the summons.
However, Mr Barungi did not heed to the summons prompting court to issue a warrant of arrest.
The warrant was received by the District Police Commander, Wandegeya, on April 4 and immediately effected.
Mr Barungi was then taken to Mbarara where he was detained, arraigned in court and granted bail to defend himself from outside prison. But Ms Tumusiime wants court to help her recover the animals from Mr Barungi and hand them over to the retiring archbishop. According to court documents, Mr Barungi denied ever taking the animals and tasked his accuser to produce documentary evidence. The case resumes this month.
Meanwhile, Ms Tumusiime wants the Ministry of Finance to investigate Mr Barungi’s integrity.
Ms Tumusiime’s petition was received in June by the Accountant General, who then asked the Principal Personnel Officer in the same Ministry of Finance to take action.
“Please write to Comptroller State House, to bring this to his attention and must reply within the stipulated and regulatory time,” the Accountant General, Mr Gustavio Bwoch, asked the Principal Personnel Officer on June 4.
