Museveni orders hunt for fake gold dealers

President Museveni

What you need to know:

According to the Auditor General’s report of 2016/17, Uganda lost Shs61b in fraudulent gold exports. Last year gold beat coffee as Uganda’s top foreign exchange earner with exports worth Shs1.2 trillion.

Kampala. The police have bust a racket of people who have been defrauding investors of millions of dollars in fake gold transactions.
The bust came after President Museveni ordered a crackdown on the racketeers for ruining government revenues.

The crackdown on fake gold dealers, which is led by the CID Deputy Director for Special Investigations, Mr Elly Womanya, started last month.
More than a dozen suspects including Ugandans, Congolese and Kazakhstanis have been arrested. Others are on the run, according to police.
Four foreigners suspected to have been involved in fake gold deals were deported last week, while some of their accomplices are still detained at the Special Investigations Unit in Kireka, Wakiso District, pending completion of investigations.

Superintendent of Police Vincent Ssekate, the CID spokesman, said in an interview on Saturday said that the gold gangs are so organised that they have contacts within government systems and abroad.
“We are investigating organised criminal groups. Arrests in Uganda have been made, but we need to work with International Police if we are to uproot the entire group because they have branches in different countries like Spain, United Arab Emirates and Kenya, which they use to lure their victims into Uganda,” Mr Ssekate said.

Police report
According to a report on organised criminals by Mr Womanya, the fake gold dealers disguise their activities by registering sham companies, which they use to facilitate their missions.
“Investigations have so far shown that this crime is perpetuated by highly organised criminal gangs that operate across the continent and of recent had set up a base in Uganda,” Mr Womanya says in the report.