By Executive Editor
The National Social Security Fund (NSSF) has lost a case in which it sorted to repossess land comprised in FRV WAK 6104 Folio 24 Bloc 29 Plots 3234-3240.
In 2015, the Fund accused Mohammed Lubowa, Moses Bogere, Betty Namanya, Daphine Nakanwagi, and Patrick Onyango of fraudulently procuring a certificate of title in contravention of Section 190(1) of the registration of the Titles Act 230 laws of Uganda. The accused persons were charged in court.
On April 17, 2024, Makindye Magistrates Court made a pronouncement in the matter.
According to a 21-page ruling, Makindye Grade One Magistrate, Elisha Arinaitwe, was disappointed with the manner in which the NSSF handled their case.
In pinning the accused, the NSSF had only one job to do: prove that there was a procurement of title in a fraudulent manner and that the accused persons were responsible.
However, the court did not find any truth in NSSF’s claim.
“I have properly examined the evidence on record. My finding is surely that this evidence has left doubt in my mind. I resolve this doubt in favor of the accused,” said Arinaitwe.
Arinaitwe said that NSSF’s mode of recovery of documents, mode of custody of evidence, specifically the experts report, inconsistencies in the evidence of witnesses, and the failure to examine documents uploaded on the system as against sample signatures and stamps were the turning points of “this case.”
The above, Arinaitwe said, caused the fund to lose credibility in the eyes of the court.
However, Arinaitwe cites “glaring inconsistencies in the evidence of the prosecution witnesses.”
He also cited inefficiencies, which he said left “a lot to be desired about this investigation.”
“Most of the evidence relied upon by the prosecution was manifestly unreliable, and no reasonable tribunal acting on such evidence would safely convict the accused persons,” said Arinaitwe.
He added that “these contradictions and many others on record taint the evidence of such witnesses with suspicion.”
“No court can rely on such evidence. These are deliberate falsehoods, and these render the entire evidence suspect and unworthy of belief,” he said.
For these reasons, Arinaitwe said, “I find no case again against all the accused persons, and I acquit them forthwith.”
