Jailed Accountant Godfrey Kazinda freed by Court

Jailed Accountant Godfrey Kazinda freed by Court. Whisper Eye Reports

Uganda Constitutional court yesterday freed the former Principal Accountant of Office of the prime minister Godfrey Kazinda who has been in jail since 2012

Justice Stephen Musota granted all the declarations sought by Gofrey Kazinda.

Musota ordered the Anti-Corruption court to immediately discharge Kazinda in all pending criminal cases and any future cases whose offences are found on the same facts arguing that splitting charges of offences founded on the same facts caused double jeopardy, contrary to provisions of the Uganda constitution.

According to the judgement, all the trials Mr Kazinda faced after his conviction were illegal.

However, the constitution court stayed all corruption charges against Kazinda, the former principal accountant of the office of the prime minister.

Jailed Godfrey Kazinda was first sentenced for five years in June 2013 by the Anti-Corruption Court, after spending 10 months in prison.

In June, 2013, Justice David Wangutusi sentenced Mr Godfrey Kazinda to five years in prison for abuse of office and two years each of the 25 counts of forgery and making documents without authority.

He was found guilty of forging 26 signatures of his then boss and former permanent secretary in the Prime Minister’s office, Mr Pius Bigirimana.

Justice Wangutusi also gave him another five years for unlawful possession of government stores.

In May 2017, Mr Kazinda was handed a 5-year jail sentence for the second time.

He (Godfrey Kazinda) was found guilty of conspiring with three others to defraud government of ugx 316million worth of fuel drawn by non-existent Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) vehicles, that were meant to carry relief to disaster Victims.

Then Kazinda has remained with corruption cases which included illicit enrichment of UGX 4.6b and 69 other charges where he was accused of stealing more than UGX 5.4b meant for post-war recovery programme in northern region.