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Ex-Yumbe head teacher jailed 7 years for stealing Shs8.3m
Theft and forgery convict Swaib Goodyear, who was a former head teacher, is escorted out of the courtroom after court sentenced him in Yumbe District on August 14, 2024. PHOTO/ROBERT ELEMA
What you need to know:
- Goodyear had asked court to be lenient to him on grounds that he has dependents.
- But the chief magistrate said the case dragged, blaming the convict for “wasting court’s time.”
The Chief Magistrate Court in Yumbe District has sentenced former Dradranga Primary School head teacher Swaib Goodyear to seven years imprisonment after he was convicted on two counts of forgery and theft.
Court on Wednesday heard that, the convict cut stamps and forged a letter of transfer from Dradranga Primary School to Gichara Primary School as the head teacher.
Presiding Chief Magistrate Freddie Awacnedi said the convict purportedly used the forged transfer letter to change signatories of the Moyo District Stanbic Bank account of Gichara Primary School claiming, he was the head teacher at the school.
Court heard that following the successful change of the signatories in the bank, the convict withdrew Shs8.3 million from Gichara Primary School bank account amounting to Shs 8.3million.
The bank only realized Goodyear’s fraudulent schemes as he attempted to change signatories for another school, according to court documents.
"The genuine head teacher of Gichara Primary School then went to withdraw money from the school bank account but realized, there was no money in the account and when investigations were done, the convict was consequently arrested and prosecuted in court. The facts were proved by the court and found that, he truly forged a transfer letter from Dradranga to Gichara Primary School and used the letter to steal the money," the magistrate held.
Ideally, it's the District Education Officer (DEO) who recommends the staff under THE Education department for transfer and the office of the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) effects the transfer, which court found contrary to the forged letters of the former head teacher.
Goodyear had asked court to be lenient to him on grounds that he has dependents.
But the chief magistrate said the case dragged, blaming the convict for “wasting court’s time.”
"The authority in Yumbe had a lot of trust in you (convict) but found you to be a criminal minded civil servant who beat the security system in the area and caused a big financial gap in Gichara Primary School. The money was meant to facilitate teaching and learning process in that school, but you decided to take a dangerous direction not minding that you have responsibilities at home," he said.
In his judgement, the magistrate handed the the convict 2 years imprisonment for forgery and a 5-year sentence for theft of money in addition to ordering him to payback the Shs8.3 million to Gichara Primary School. His sentences will run co-currently.
The convict committed the offence in 2021 and hearing of the case commenced in 2022.
