{UAH} Security busts conmen

Joseph Jjuuko (L) and Richard Kayima

Two brothers; Joseph Jjuuko and Richard Kayima are in Kitalya prison accused of persistently attacking top officials of Buganda Kingdom and members of the royal family.

They routinely used social media platforms to abuse and threaten top Buganda kingdom officials as well as members of the royal family. These threats would often come in form of derogatory comments, libellous statements or even outright blackmail, according to a complainant.

The culprits would use both personal and fake Facebook accounts to directly attack Mengo officials including Katikkiro Charles Peter Mayiga, Prince David Wasajja and Eng Martin Kasekende, the Buganda Land Board (BLB) CEO, among others.

This continued harassment forced a concerned party to lodge a complaint with the Criminal Investigations Department of the Uganda police, which culminated in the arrest and incarceration of Jjuuko and Kayima.

The two were arrested on July 23 and arraigned before Grade I Magistrate Stella Maris Amabilis at Buganda Road court who remanded them to Kitalya prison until August 6 when their bail ruling will be made.

They were charged with libel and offensive communication and face at least one year in prison if found guilty.

According to the charge sheet, the pair used Facebook to author libellous statements against the said officials with the aim of painting them in bad light in the eyes of the Kabaka as well as the public.

According to a security source, who declined to be named, this scheme was concentrated around BLB by virtue of its mandate to manage large swathes of Buganda land. The pair would use their accounts to make daily posts about these officials with fabrications, calling them fraudsters, thieves and criminals.

"These conmen target Buganda officials because they know they [Buganda officials] fear to have their profiles soiled in the media," he says. "On many occasions, we have observed that conmen create syndicated storylines to accuse Mengo officials of corruption in order to scare them off high-value contested kingdom land."

"In the past, conmen and extortionists used to target top government ministers and permanent secretaries with corruption dossiers in order to gain favours on contracts and jobs but that scheme was exposed through intelligence coordination," he says.

"They have now resorted to fabricating stories against Buganda kingdom officials with the aim of grabbing land because they know many of the Buganda officials dread to be seen in bad light."

According to the source, the places targeted include; Mujaguzo land in Kabowa, land in Naggalabi, former Kigo prison land that Buganda kingdom recovered from government as well as land occupied by the kingdom's traditional sites.

Their posts also opposed the famous Kyapa mu Ngalo campaign, which was introduced by BLB to give out lease titles to people on kingdom land as a way of reducing fraud and land evictions. It should be noted that last week, the land commission led by Justice Catherine Bamugemereire recommended that all land in Uganda should be titled.

SEASONED CONMEN

This is not the first time Jjuuko is locking horns with Mengo. He was last year dragged to court by BLB for fraudulently claiming that he had land titles of block 265 and 269 in Kigo, using them to claim ownership of land on which the prestigious Mirembe Villas are built.

According to a source close to this case, Jjuuko would convince unsuspecting people that he was the rightful owner and took money from them.

"Many people fell victim of his fraudulent transactions and lost money as a result. Mirembe Villas, as a matter of fact, are built on former Kigo prison land. That land is approximately 329.4 acres and was formerly occupied by Kigo farm and prison in Kaazi-Busabala as Kyadondo Block 273 Plot 38," notes the source.

It was at this point that the kingdom broke away from restraint and decided to sue Jjuuko for fraud at Kajjansi magistrates court. He is out on bail in this matter.

It remains to be seen whether the move to prosecute alleged extortionists will serve as a warning but there is no doubt that it is bearing fruit.

https://observer.ug/news/headlines/65967-security-busts-conmen?fbclid=IwAR00U0NKUc3VRCNbYcQ8rHDU-R3E_vpY3tcG8n5BfCzdDhtWIniD8J7Njm0

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Allaah gives the best to those who leave the choice to Him."And if Allah touches you with harm, none can remove it but He, and if He touches you with good, then He is Able to do all things." (6:17)

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