MOROTO DISTRICT: The Police in Moroto District in Karamoja sub-region have arrested the officer in charge of the Criminal Investigations Desk (CID) for allegedly releasing counterfeit sugar recently impounded by Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) officials.
According to local newspaper Daily Monitor, Mr Robert Byayo was arrested Tuesday morning by his superiors in Moroto after he released the 496 bags of sugar to the Somalis before the completion of the investigations.
Last month, the joint force of Police and URA officers impounded 496 bags of Ugandan sugar being repackaged in paper bags to look like Kenyan sugar at the Nakiloro border.
The owners of the sugar fled and the police collected and kept it in their stores as they continued pursuing the owners.
Mr Micheal Longole, the Karamoja regional police spokesperson confirmed the arrest of one of their own saying there is no one who is above the law.
“What our officer did was uncalled for because this sugar was impounded through concerted effort from all stakeholders and not by an individual, which means releasing it should have involved all stakeholders like URA, UNBS, and Interpol not him as an individual,” he said.
Mr Longole said the officer will be produced to court as soon as possible to answer charges of disobedient of lawful orders, corruption and negligence of duty.
Mr Byayo becomes the second CID boss in Moroto to be arrested over misconduct. In 2019, Ms Judith Namatale the then district CID boss was arrested after she failed to explain why she didn’t take action against Dr Philip Kakungulu who was accused of removing his patient’s uterus under unclear circumstances.
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Daily Monitor
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