Kampala, Uganda: The Anti-Corruption Court in Kampala has charged and sent to Luzira Prison, Prof Waswa Balunywa, the former Makerere University Business School (MUBS), over the alleged illegal staff recruitments at the public institution.
Balunywa, 69, appeared before Chief Magistrate Racheal Nakyazze on Tuesday morning after failing to respond to an earlier summons to answer the charges related to the irregular recruitment practices during his tenure.
He is jointly charged with Jacqueline Namaganda, the former acting Human Resource Director at MUBS, now serving as Chief Quality Assurance Officer, who allegedly failed to verify the recruits’ eligibility before their appointments. Namaganda was granted Shs4 million cash bail last week.
According to the charge sheet, the duo is accused of abusing office between February and April 2023 by unlawfully appointing James Arike, Nathan Nuwagira, and Nimrod Kakayi as Administrative Assistants despite their alleged lack of required academic qualifications.
State Prosecutors told court that the recruitments created ineligible costs to the government, forming the basis of the corruption case.
The state disclosed that another case is underway against Prof. Balunywa, concerning irregular recruitment of over 103 academic staff, 17 administrative officers, and 69 support staff positions that, prosecutors claim, required approval from the MUBS Appointments Committee.
Prof. Balunywa, however, denied the charges and presented four sureties in his sought for bail. These included his brother, Muhammad Ngoma, Vice-Chancellor of Kampala International University, Prof. Sudi Nangoli, Managing Director of Uganda Printing and Publishing Association, and his son, Ali Balunywa.
Defence Lawyers led by Asuman Matovu maintained that Balunywa followed due process in his application for bail, asserting that he “has served this country diligently for decades and is not about to abscond from court. He deserves his liberty as the case proceeds.”
But State Prosecutor, ms Immaculate Agotoku, opposed bail, citing the seriousness of the charges and the need to prevent interference with ongoing investigations. The court will rule on the bail application on Friday, September 5.
Prof. Balunywa retired in May 2022 after over two decades as MUBS principal, a tenure credited with transforming the school into a leading business institution. His trial comes amid wider investigations by the CID into alleged mismanagement of Shs53 billion paid to “ghost” employees on the government payroll.
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