UPDF officer, wife charged over ghost air force pilot
What you need to know:
- During yesterday’s proceedings at the military court, the State prosecutor, Maj Raphael Mugisha, said the accused fraudulently disbursed or caused to be disbursed Shs2,070,300,000b to a Barclays Bank account as salary for the benefit of the purported pilot.
- Lt Gen Gutti remanded Maj Lubega to Makindye Military Barracks while Ms Twinomujuni and Ms Kyakabale, being civilians, were remanded to Luzira prison until May 16 for mention of their case.
Kampala. A senior officer in the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) and his wife who also is an employee of the Ministry of Defence, have been charged over alleged recruitment and maintenance of a ghost pilot on the army’s payroll for more than 11 years.
It is believed that the ministry lost more than Shs2 billion in salaries to the ghost pilot for Mi-17 and Mi-24 military helicopters.
The accused is Maj Kapalaga Lubega of the Air Force attached to the Directorate of Medical Services, his wife Evas Lubega Twinomujuni and one Ms Carolyn Kyakabale, a former human resource manager in charge of civilian personnel in the Ministry of Defence. They were arraigned before the General Court Martial in Makindye yesterday.
They denied the charges, which upon conviction attract prison sentences of up to seven years.
Prosecution told the military court presided over by Lt Gen Andrew Gutti that the accused and others still at large between October 2005 and January 2016 caused the Ministry of Defence to enter into an employment contract with a non-existent pilot.
Particulars of the offence state that the Ministry of Defence, at the prompting of the Air Force, entered into a two-year renewable contract with the said ghost Russian air force pilot, Valerie Detrick, on October 4, 2005. He was to work as a pilot and pilots’ instructor with a monthly pay of $4,306 (about Shs14, 425,100).
Payments were disbursed between October 2005 and June 2008 to Detrick’s Account Number 0710006739 in Nile Bank on Luwum Street Branch.
Though the contract was still running as of July 2008, details about how payments were effected between July and December 2008, which constitutes a part of the second contract, are unclear.
The earnings were revised upward to $5,350 (about Shs17,922,500) per month when the contract was renewed for the second time. This amount was retained through the 2011 and 2013 contract durations until the middle of 2015 when the monthly pay was reduced to $5,150 (about Shs17,252,500).
The loss came to light in June 2016 after a probe team, set up by Chief of Defence Forces, Gen Katumba Wamala, (now retired) released its report. The report implicated more than 16 military and civilian officials of the Ministry of Defence in the scam.
During yesterday’s proceedings at the military court, the State prosecutor, Maj Raphael Mugisha, said the accused fraudulently disbursed or caused to be disbursed Shs2,070,300,000b to a Barclays Bank account as salary for the benefit of the purported pilot.
Lt Gen Gutti remanded Maj Lubega to Makindye Military Barracks while Ms Twinomujuni and Ms Kyakabale, being civilians, were remanded to Luzira prison until May 16 for mention of their case.
Maj Mugisha told court that investigations into the matter were in advanced stages and asked court for more time to enable the prosecution complete the inquiries.
