Buganda Road Court Magistrate has acquitted former Uganda Airlines Chief Executive Officer, Cornwell Muleya, on charges of disobeying lawful orders from the Office of the Inspectorate of Government.
In June this year, Muleya appeared before Buganda Road Court Grade One Magistrate, Asuman Muhumuza, and was charged with disobeying the IGG’s orders, a charge he denied. He was released on Shs1.5m cash bail.
However, Muleya was tasked to defend himself after the magistrate found that he had a case to answer as the evidence by Senior Inspectorate Officer, Rogers Kinobe, showed that IGG had done more than enough to prove that Muleya was actually in the country at the time he was duly served with the IGG summons dated May 23, 2022, whereas not.
In his defence, Muleya said that the June 1 deadline approached when he had not yet got a response from the IGG and hence could not appear without hearing from the ombudsman.
He was also supposed to travel to South Africa and Dubai and was later hospitalized with high blood pressure.
On Monday, October 31, 2022, Magistrate Muhumuza dismissed the IGG’s claims and acquitted Muleya on grounds that his failure to comply with the IGG’s order to appear over corruption allegations was not in total defiance but justified by well-reasoned travel and sickness.
“Having examined the evidence on the record as a whole and subjected it to a thorough and exhaustive scrutiny, I find that Muleya’s failure to appear before IGG was excusable,” ruled magistrate Muhumuza.
The magistrate also cited a medical report which confirms that Muleya had been hospitalised.
He concluded that the explanations offered by the accused person, which included travel abroad and sickens, were all backed up by documentation.
“It is, therefore, of a surprise to me that IGG didn’t find the explanation compelling from the accused. Failure to communicate is not doesn’t constitute a criminal offence or warrant criminal prosecution. The accused’s failure to appear as summoned was not total defiance but based on a reasonable excuse.”
He added: “The accused is, therefore, not found guilty. He is acquitted of charges preferred against him by Inspectorate of Government.”