Former Works minister Abraham Byandala is a free man after being acquitted by the High Court of causing financial loss of Shs24.7 billion in the substandard Mukono-Katosi Road contract. He was set free this morning.
In a judgment delivered by Justice Lawrence Gidudu of the Anti-Corruption Court at Kololo, Byandala was declared not guilty of any offense since there was no evidence to incriminate him.
Justice Gidudu in his judgment explained that the charges against Byandala are not sustainable. The same Court also acquitted former Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) acting executive director, Mr Berunado Sebugga Kimeze, arguing that the latter inherited a confused UNRA procurement.
The former senior works minister was facing 16 counts of abuse of office, disobedience of lawful orders, influence peddling, causing financial loss, corruption, theft, obtaining money by false pretense, uttering false documents and conspiracy to defraud the government.
These came to light after an investigation by the IGG into his role in the illegal award of a contract to a fictitious road construction company EUTAW, that was contracted to construct the Mukono-Katosi road.
According to a report by the Inspector General of Government –IGG, Byandala forced UNRA to sign and advance 24.7 billion Shillings to the firm, before it was discovered that EUTAW Construction Company did not have relations to the firm in the United States that it used as its parent company.