Chief Magistrate, prosecutor accused of corruption granted bail

The chief magistrate and a state attorney from Sembabule District who are accused of corruption in connection with soliciting a bribe from court users, were Thursday granted bail after spending the night in prison

Ms Jackline Bako, the Resident State Attorney and Ms Sylvia Nvanungi, the Chief Magistrate are facing seven charges of corruption regarding soliciting and receiving bribes from different persons undergoing trial before the court in Sembabule District.

Ms Joan Aciro, the Chief Magistrate of the Anti-corruption Court Thursday ordered Ms Bako and Ms Nvanungi to deposit Shs1 million and Shs800,000 respectively as one of the conditions for bail, while each of their sureties were bonded at Shs50 million and 40 million respectively, not cash.

“I find that these are still allegations. Besides, the prosecution has not demonstrated how grave the charges before this court are. They have also not demonstrated how severe the punishments are. The capacity to meet the bail will be measured by the employments of the sureties,” held Ms Aciro before adjourning the case to January 19, 2024, for further mention.

Prosecution case

The state alleges that on April 12 this year at the RSA’s office in Sembabule Town Ms Bako being a public official employed by the government as in charge of the Resident State Attorney’s Office, in performance of her public functions solicited for the gratification of Shs2.5 million from Zedekai Karinti in exchange for the grant of bail to him.

It is further alleged that on the same day, Ms Bako accepted a bribe of Shs1,480,000 from Franco Mulangwa in exchange for the grant of bail to Karinti.

Prosecution alleges that in April this year, Ms Bako and Ms Nvanungi the Resident State Attorney and Chief Magistrate respectively solicited a bribe of Shs2.5 million from the relatives of one John Ambasize who was on remand in exchange for his release on bail.

It is further alleged that during the month of May 2022 at the RSA’s office in Sembabule Town, Ms Bako solicited a gratification of Shs10 million from Karintu one of the suspects on case number Ntuusi 034/2022 in exchange for excluding him from the charge sheet where he had been charged with offences of attempted murder, criminal trespass and malicious damage to property.    

Prosecution also states that in the months of March and April 2023, Ms Bako solicited for gratification Shs2 million from relatives of Eric Sabiti, a suspect in a case of attempted murder in exchange for his release on bail and that he received the same amount.

The duo was arrested on Wednesday as they reported to the State House Anticorruption Unit before they were driven to the court.

[email protected]