Katosi road scam convict rejects Justice Bamugemereire

One of the three convicts in Katosi road scam has opposed Justice Catherine Bamugemereire’s appearance on the panel set to hear a case challenging their conviction for causing a Shs24.7 billion financial loss.
Mr William Owere, a lawyer representing Mr Joe Semugooma, the  former director of finance and administration at Uganda National Roads Authority (Unra) told court yesterday that his client was not comfortable having Justice Bamugemereire on the panel.

Justice Bamugemereire was part of the panel set by the Court of Appeal to hear a case in which convicts Apollo Senkeeto, Ssemugooma and former accountant Wilberforce Senjaako are challenging their punishment regarding corruption related offences during the procurement of Mukono-Katosi road construction.
 In 2018, Justice Lawrence Gidudu of the Anti-Corruption Court sentenced Senkeeto to 10 years,  and former UNRA director of finance and administration Joe Semugooma to five years for abuse of office. He also imprisoned him jointly with his former junior Senjaako to another five years for corruption.

However, the three convicts challenged their conviction and sentence by the lower court.
As the case came up for hearing yesterday before the Appeal Court yesterday, Mr Owere said: “My client [Ssemugooma] is not comfortable having Justice Bamugemereire on the panel because she chaired the commission of inquiry into Unra affairs where Katosi road saga was among the issues being investigated by the commission.” 
Senkeeto, another convict also asked court to avail him with his passport to enable him visit in family in America where he is a resident.

Senkeeto, Ssemugooma and Senjaako were part of the seven people including former Work’s minister Abraham Byandala indicted on 23 charges in connection with the bungled Mukono-Katosi road contract.
However, court acquitted Mr Byandala, former Unra acting executive director Berunado Sebugga Kimeze, Mr Marvin Baryaruha (former legal counsel) and former Housing Finance employee Isaac Mugote for any wrongdoing but the Inspector General of Government has since appealed against the court’s decision.

 In their appeal, the trio who are currently on bail, stated that the lower court convicted them without thoroughly substantiating the evidence before court.
The officials were charged with offences in connection to  illegal award of a contract to EUTAW, a fictitious road construction company from Mississippi that was contracted to construct the Mukono-Katosi-Nyenga road. It was later discovered that the fictitious EUTAW did not have relations to the firm in the US that it used as its parent company.
The file has been forwarded to the registrar for re-allocation.