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Ntoroko CAO charged with 10 counts of forgery, remanded
The Ntoroko District CAO Mr Anslem Kyaligonza in court dock on Tuesday. Photo | Irene Kirabo
What you need to know:
- Mr Kyaligonza who pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him is being accused of making false documents and issuing appointment letters purporting that the Ntoroko District Service Commission sat and appointed different civil servants to fill different vacancies at the district.
The Ntoroko District Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Mr Anslem Kyaligonza was Tuesday afternoon charged with 10 counts of forgery and remanded to Katojo government prison. He appeared before chief magistrate Moses Kule Lubangula in Fort Portal.
Mr Kyaligonza who pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him is being accused of making false documents and issuing appointment letters purporting that the Ntoroko District Service Commission sat and appointed different civil servants to fill different vacancies at the district.
Mr Kyaligonza was on June 3, 2022 arrested by the State House Anti-corruption Unit in liaison with the Uganda Police for irregularly recruiting and appointing over 500 civil servants in excess of the staff ceiling and wage bill and without the approval of both the district and public service commissions.
The CAO in usurping of the powers of the District Service Commission is alleged to have personally headhunted several persons for recruitment, issued them appointment letters bearing forged minutes of the District Service Commission, and irregularly added them to the district payroll.
Some of the irregularly recruited staff were also paid salaries beyond the scales indicated in their forged appointments.
The Prosecution led by the State Attorney Mr Andrew Kasaija said that inquiries are still ongoing and sensitive information on the matter has not yet been acquired and thus asked the court for more time to finish investigations.
Kyaligonza’s lawyer Mr Victor Businge applied for bail on grounds that his client is suffering from diabetes, and is of old age.
“Since my client has no criminal history and according to the laws of the land, one is innocent until proven guilty, I am requesting your worship to grant my prayer and give bail to this sick man,” he pleaded.
The accused first presented two sureties including; Mr John Katotoroma the Chief Administrative Officer Kabarole District and Mr Muhimbo Edward the Town Clerk Mbasani Town Council in Kakumiro District.
However, the State Prosecutor objected to the second surety saying that he is not a resident in the court’s jurisdiction and lied to the court that he is a biological brother to the accused yet he is his brother-in-law and the telephone contact he gave wasn’t registered under his name.
This forced the chief magistrate to adjourn court for an hour to discuss the surety and when the court resumed, the defense lawyer informed the court that they had dropped Mr Muhimbo as a surety and instead brought three other persons to stand surety of the accused.
The three new sureties included; Mr Kusemererwa David, Mr Musinguzi Robert, and Mr Bwambale William.
However, the state objected to the new sureties saying it was not in order to bring in new sureties in the middle of hearing of a bail application.
The magistrate adjourned the case to Wednesday to continue hearing the bail application and remanded Mr Kyaligonza.
