The Supreme Court will hear about 100 criminal appeals at one of its upcoming criminal conferences. monitor Have learned.
Among the criminal appeals to be heard is that of pension thieves led by Jimmy Rwamafa.
“I would like to inform you that a preliminary hearing will be held on June 27, 2023 at 9:30 am. [the] Judge of the Supreme Court, Professor Lillian Tibatemwa-Ekirikumvisa.
The purpose of the meeting is to determine the hearing schedule for criminal appeals and to determine the format for filing arguments and deadlines for filing papers,” the Supreme Court said in a notice issued last week.
At the hearing, the court asked both parties to submit in writing pending a decision at a later date.
In November 2016, the Anti-Corruption Court ruled that former Permanent Clerk of the Ministry of Public Service Rwamafa, former Pensions Commissioner Steven Kiwanuka Kunsa and Christopher Obey (Chief Accountant of the Pensions Division) created a fraudulent budget for Shs88. convicted of having done so. .2b Acting as the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) in the financial years 2010/2011 and 2011/2012, the public official is fully aware that he does not contribute to the NSSF.
Of the three pension thieves, Mr. Obey (RIP) was given the harshest sentence of 10 years in prison.
The former boss was subsequently sentenced to seven years in prison, while Mr. Khunsa was sentenced to the lightest sentence of five years.
In sentencing Obey, Chief Judge Lawrence Guidodou accused him of being a key figure in the syndicate’s corruption and the man behind the schedule that audit reports found contained ghosts. bottom.
The judge further accused Obey, saying he was a technical officer responsible for advising colleagues (Rwamafa and Kunsa) on budget formulation and execution.
While convicting the trio’s top executives, the judge said the syndicate’s corruption began at the Ministry of Public Service, was facilitated at the Ministry of Finance and perfected at Cairo Bank, where money was sent to ghost pensioners.
Moreover, in the verdict, the judge ordered the three convicted officials to jointly with Shs50b to compensate the government for the economic losses they had caused to the government, although the compensation would have been higher. , said the convict was assisted by other criminals who are still in custody. In terms of committing this crime, Shs50b would suffice for him in this situation.
However, dissatisfied with the convictions and sentences, the three appealed to the Court of Appeals, which upheld the convictions.
Against this background, the convicts have appealed to the highest and final court in the country (Supreme Court), and an appeal hearing is scheduled.