Businessman Katumwa charged with abduction has been granted bail

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Businessman David Katumwa has been arraigned before Makindye Magistrates Court and charged with abduction. The charge attracts a jail sentence of seven years.

The court heard that on September 24, 2020, in Luwafu zone, Makindye division, Katumwa, a candidate for the Nansana municipality parliamentary seat unlawfully took a minor from the custody or protection of her parents. The 16-old girl disappeared from her mother’s home in Zana, a suburb of Kampala after being questioned about the source of the money she used to buy a smartphone.

A case of a missing person was then filed by her mother at Zana police station. But she was eventually informed that her daughter had been sighted at Katumwa’s home in the same area. She confirmed the same after seeing the girl in Katumwa’s vehicle leading to his eventual arrest.

However, Katumwa, 46, has denied the charge and today, he asked to be released on bail. He presented three sureties among them his friends and a neighbour who according to the prosecution had been examined and found to be substantial.

The prosecution led by Lydia Nakato requested that in case the court accepts to grant Katumwa bail, stringent conditions should be imposed to prevent him from interfering with the investigations and also ensure that he attends court.

Accordingly, the magistrate granted Katumwa a cash bail of one million Shillings and each of his sureties was told to execute a non-cash bond of three million Shillings.

Katumwa was last arrested in 2015 on allegations of defiling a 13-year old, primary seven girl. The minor said that she had been lured into a lodge where she was defiled from and later given 20,000 Shillings with caution not to reveal what had happened to her. The case is said to have been settled before Katumwa was taken to court.
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