Kawempe South Member of Parliament Mubarak Munyagwa has been ordered to appear before the Anti-Corruption Court on November 4, 2019 to face corruption charges.
The Chief magistrate Pamella Lamunu on Monday dismissed Munyagwa’s application that sought to block his trial.
The Parliament’s Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (Cosase) chairperson had stated that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had no right to institute corruption charges against him when the complainant lost interest.
However, Justice Lamunu said court was not moved by a letter written to it by the complainant Francis Kakumba expressing loss of interest in the pending court case.
She also agreed with the DPP that criminal offences are committed against the State and not individuals.
Prosecution alleges that in 2015, Munyagwa while still Kawempe Division Mayor, solicited Shs100 million from businessman Kakumba to get his son Isaac Muyanja a job.
Prior Munyagwa had received a letter from the then Minister of Presidency Frank Tumwebaze, asking him to nominate somebody to represent the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) on the division land board.
However, the deal did not go well as planned since Kakumba’s son was rejected on grounds that he did not match some of the qualifications.
In return, according to police, Munyagwa promised to compensate Kakumba with a plot of land at Kalerwe in Kampala.
“A disagreement ensued between Munyagwa and Kakumba when he (Munyagwa) offered the latter a small piece of land which he rejected. Kakumba purportedly wanted the land plus some money and this prompted him to run to Kabalagala Police Station.”
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