9 Finance officials arrested over Shs60b heist at Bank of Uganda

The Accountant General, Mr Lawrence Semakula, and 8 others have been arrested in connection to investigations over the UGX 60bn that was irregularly transferred from Bank of Uganda in 2024.

Detectives from the Criminal Investigations Directorate also picked Deborah Kusiima, Jennifer Muhurizi, Tony Yawe, Mubarak Nansamba, Paul Lumala, Mark Kasuku, Judith Ashaba and a Nayebare.

Police spokesman Kituuma Rusoke confirmed the arrests. “We have been the matter and we summoned the officials from the Ministry of Finance. Today, they have been apprehended,” he said.

Ramathan Ggoobi, the Finance PS, also confirmed the arrests.

“The Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development wishes to inform the general public, all other Government Ministries, Departments, Agencies and Local Governments, as well as the Development Partners that due to ongoing investigations relating to some operations at the Treasury, some officers attached to the Accountant General’s Office (AGO) were summoned and detained by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to facilitate conclusion of the investigations,” he said in a statement.

“The Ministry has provided the investigating authorities full support and ensured that all the concerned officers fully cooperate as required. We wish to assure everyone concerned that all our services, including those provided by the ministry are operating normally. More information will be provided in due course,” he added.

The money in question was meant for debt repayments to the World Bank and African Development Fund but was diverted to two banks in London, UK, and Japan.

The Bank of Uganda immediately commenced internal investigations and reported the matter to relevant government authorities after discovering that the payments had not reached the intended beneficiaries. The Central Bank took necessary steps to recover the money, instructing its correspondent bank, Citibank, and the banks where the funds had been credited to freeze the said funds due to suspected fraud.

The Central Bank has since recovered $8.205 million (about Shs30 billion) of the funds sent to NJS International and credited back to the Consolidated Fund account. However, the Bank of Uganda is yet to recover the $6.134m diverted to Road Way Company and paid into an account in MFUFG Bank in Japan.

The CID has promised to leave no stone unturned in uncovering the truth behind the disappearance of the UGX 60 billion.