By Sylvia
The State House Anti Corruption Unit (SHACU) detectives, have arrested and detained the Fort Portal deputy City Clerk Richard Kagaba Ndora, and three other employees over abuse of office.
The other three City council members arrested, include Simon Karamagi the Chief Finance Officer, Kyomuhendo Suzan the acting secretary of the City Service Commission, and Ben Mutooro the Fort Portal City Registry Staff .
The Arrest
Wycliffe Mukama, the State House Anti Corruption Unit lead investigator, confirmed to Jubilee Radio that all the suspects were arrested after being summoned to Kampala.
He further disclosed that Kagaba the deputy City Clerk is accused of irregularly carrying out the exercise of staff recruitment.
“The recruitment commenced in early March 2023 and due to a number of complaints that were raised ,the Ministry of Public Service issued a circular staying all staying all the recruitments without clearance” Mukama said.
Meanwhile, on July 3, this year, the Fort Portal City Mayor Edison Asaba Ruyonga wrote a letter to the deputy City Clerk instructing him to issue appointment letters to those who had been interviewed.
Upon learning of the Mayor’s instruction, David Kyasanku the substantive City Clerk who is currently on leave, wrote an Email to his deputy warning him on issuing out the appointment letters.
“On strength of the Mayor’s letter, and despite the Email from Kyasanku the substantive City Clerk, Kagaba went ahead and issued 23 appointment letters to some of the selected candidates and backdated them to 29th June 2023” Mukama the lead investigator told our reporter.
The said appointment letters, were picked by Mutooro from Kabaga’s office, who registered them in the dispatch book and backdated them to June 29 and 30 respectively.
According to Mukama, this was seen as forgery since Kagaba the Deputy City Clerk in his statement said he had signed the letters on June 30, wondering how Mutooro could receive them for dispatch the day before they were actually signed.
Mutooro, later delivered the appointment letters to Kyomuhendo the acting secretary of the City Service Commission who also falsely put a receiving date of June 30.
It’s from this background, that a total of three charges including abuse of office, forgery, and uttering a false document have been preferred against Kabaga the deputy City Clerk.
Other Suspects
The other suspects, have been charged of abuse of office and conspiracy to commit felony.
All the suspects are being detained at the Central Police Station in Kampala pending to appear in Court.
