Former Soroti University Secretary wins appeal in Shs1.5bn fraud case

The Court of Appeal in Kampala has overturned the conviction of Ms. Ruth Achimo Etibot, the former Secretary of Soroti University, who had been sentenced to five years in prison on fraud-related charges. The appellate court’s ruling, delivered on Tuesday, August 20, 2024, exonerated Ms. Achimo, effectively nullifying the earlier decision made by the Anti-Corruption Court.

In April 2023, the Anti-Corruption Court, under Justice Margaret Tibulya, found Ms. Achimo guilty of several charges, including abuse of office, diversion of public resources, fraudulent false accounting, and false accounting by a public officer. The charges stemmed from her tenure as university secretary during the 2017-2018 financial year, where she was accused of improperly entering into a retainer agreement with Ms. Okurut & Co Advocates and authorizing a payment of Shs1 billion in legal fees, an amount that was allegedly unbudgeted and diverted from capital development funds.

Additional allegations included the diversion of Shs553 million intended for capital development to pay university council members and falsifying entries in the performance report for the fourth quarter of the 2017-2018 financial year.

However, a panel of three justices—Geoffrey Kiryabwire, Muzamiru M. Kibeedi, and Oscar J. Kihika—reviewed the case and found significant flaws in the initial ruling. They criticized Justice Tibulya for not thoroughly evaluating the evidence and relying on an audit report prepared by an unqualified individual. The justices highlighted that the audit report, despite being signed by the Auditor General, was authored by someone who was not a registered professional accountant and had not completed the ACCA paper, leading to what they deemed a miscarriage of justice.

The appellate court also pointed out that the audit report had been prepared without proper authorization from the Soroti University Council and suggested that it was used maliciously against Ms. Achimo. Moreover, the justices emphasized that Ms. Achimo was not given the opportunity to respond to the audit’s findings before they were used against her, which they identified as a critical legal oversight.

Regarding the alleged misuse of funds to pay university council members, the court noted that none of the recipients disputed receiving the money, further weakening the prosecution’s case.

Following her exoneration, Ms. Achimo released a statement on Thursday expressing her belief that the charges against her were motivated by malice from individuals aiming to oust her from her position as university secretary.

As of the time of this report, neither the Soroti University Council nor the university’s vice-chancellor had issued any statements in response to the Court of Appeal’s ruling.

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