Couple gives up Shs1.4b assets to regain freedom

A couple has surrendered prime family assets worth Shs1.4b to the Inspector General of Government (IGG) in exchange for dropping corruption charges they have faced for nine years.

Mr Umar Katongole, a former engineer with the Uganda National Roads Authority (Unra), and his wife, Ms Hawa Sengendo, a community development officer with the Luweero District Local Government, have surrendered three plots of land to the IGG. They were accused of illicitly amassing wealth amounting to more than Shs6.2b without known sources of income.

“We are recovering some of the money following his prosecution, and the case was withdrawn. We received property as security, and he is supposed to pay at least Shs1b within one year,” Ms Munira Ali, the spokesperson for the IGG, said.

The surrendered properties include Kyadondo Block 60 Plot 1416 and Plot 722, each measuring approximately 0.1070 hectares in Ziranumbu, Wakiso District, and Kyadondo Block 180 Plot 877, measuring approximately 0.378 hectares in Kitukutwe, Wakiso District. Once the couple pays the required amount, they will regain their properties.

Last month, the couple wrote to the ombudsman seeking an out-of-court settlement. Ms Munira stated that given the IGG’s effort to clear a backlog of around 5,000 cases and recover taxpayers’ money, they deemed it prudent to accept the couple’s proposal.

The prosecution alleged that Mr Katongole concealed the origins of his assets located on Block 180, Plots 1395, 178, and 877 in Wakiso District. The IGG also claimed that the couple deposited Shs2.8b in Tropical Bank between 2011 and 2015, hiding its illegal origins.

The couple’s surrender of their properties comes amid President Museveni’s renewed war on graft. Currently, five MPs are on remand over alleged budget corruption and cooperative societies’ cash issues. These MPs include Cissy Namujju Dionizia (District Woman Representative Lwengo), Yusuf Mutembuli (Bunyole East County), Paul Akamba (Busiki County), Michael Mawanda (Igara East), and Mudimi Wamakuyu (Elgon County).