The Anti-corruption Court has ordered the former Principal Accountant at the office of the Prime Minister, Geoffrey Kazinda to compensate the government with Shs19 billion.
Justice Margaret Tubulya the presiding judge has on September 24, 2021, sentenced Kazinda to 40 yrs in jail for illicit enrichment contrary to section 31 of the Anti-Corruption Act, 2009.
This is in addition to demanding he compensates the government.
In her ruling, Justice Tubulya has also directed Kazinda not to seek employment at any public office for a period of 10 years effective today under the Anti-Corruption Act 2009.
The court said it will avail a full judgment to the public in due time.
Kazinda was arrested in 2012 and charged in Court with abuse of office, illicit enrichment, conspiracy, false accounting, and one count of causing financial loss.
He was later sentenced to15 years imprisonment in November 2020, after being found guilty of illicit enrichment, forgery, causing financial loss, and conspiracy respectively.
Kazinda would later appeal the sentence at the Constitutional Court that same year.
In August 2020, the Constitutional Court directed the Anti-Corruption Court in Kampala to withdraw all the offences against him.
Five justices led by Stephen Musota, also granted all the declarations Kazinda sought in the petition and issued an order permanently prohibiting the state from using any process of court to initiate and prosecute Kazinda for any offences founded on the same facts in connection with his former employment.
Last year the Inspector-General of Government (IGG) confiscated his assets including Kazinda’s two Mercedes Benzes, all valued at Shs500m and his palatial home in Bukoto, Kampala, valued at Shs3.5b be confiscated by the IGG.
However, the State re-appealed and the case has today been ruled in its favour as Kazinda has been convicted for illicit enrichment.
How it started
His case stems from the state dragging him to court for OPM for embezzlement and conspiracy to defraud government Shillings 316.8 million.
Kazinda was accused of constructive possession of financial instruments, forging receipts and invoices, false accounting, making fraudulent payments, conspiracy to secure money outside authorized disbursement procedures, and living a standard of life beyond his known source of income.
During their investigations, the IGG found out that between 2009 and 2012 Kazinda was enjoying a standard of living way above his known source of income and possessing and amassing wealth amounting to 4.6 billion shillings.
The investigations pointed out that Kazinda had rented Constellation Suites in Nakasero for ten months at a cost of 210 million shillings, had three plots of land in Bukoto valued 3.6 billion shillings, cars including BMW, Mercedes Benz, ML class, Dodge Saloon cars all valued at 769 million shillings.
According to the prosecution(the state), this was far above his known and declared annual income of 84 million shillings thus raising a red flag on how he acquired them.
On cross-examining several witnesses and exhibits brought before the court, the presiding justice found out that Kazinda had concealed the properties when he registered them under the names of different persons.
For instance, the court heard that Kazinda had rented a suite in the names of his friends.
However, from the evidence adduced in court, there were invoices that had been signed by the accused paying for it.
More evidence also indicated that the said cars had all been bought in the names of his friends with some testifying before the court that they had been ordered by Kazinda to procure the cars in their names.
Kazinda had also transferred three land titles for pieces of land in Bukoto to the society of the Brothers of Christian Instruction as a donation.
However, court found out that he remained in full control of the pieces of land in question.
However, in his defense, Kazinda had denied owning any of the said properties. He argued that he could afford to live such high standards given that fact his family had a wealthy financial background and that they had received huge sums of money when they sold off some of the properties including part of the land that hosts Entebbe airport.
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