KAMPALA – Afande Edith Nakalema’s led State House Anti-Corruption Unit together with police are investigating Presidential Advisor on Kampala affairs, singer Catherine Kusasira and City Pastor Franklin Mondo Mugisha on allegations of fleecing Ugandans over Ugx 4billion.
According to Afande Nakalema, the duo is connected to offences by Revival Church in Bombo led Pastor, Siraje Semanda of who was charged two days ago at Buganda road court and remanded to Kitalya prison.
In the court hearing, the prosecution side stated that in February 2018 at various Pentecostal Churches and schools in Tororo district Ssemanda obtained Ugx82M from Geoffrey Owor.
He also reportedly obtained millions of money between May and November 2018 in Bombo from several school directors and church followers who he had promised bursaries for their children.
Kusasira and Mondo appeared before the unit for questioning on Tuesday, after summons on accusations from a group of complainants.
In her defence, Kusasira shared that she has met Pastor Siraje twice and it was on a function where he had invited her as a guest of honor but knows nothing about having ties with him to defraud Ugandans. She pledged to offer her support to Nakalema to have this matter solved.
“I do not have any deal with him. I think my only fault was honoring his invitation to attend his church function, but people have always called us for their functions,” she said.
Mondo on the other hand who also denied all the allegations saying he had only gone to Siraje’s church to talk to the youth has since been detained at Wandegeya Police station.
In a meeting over the weekend, a group of pastors under their umbrella body- Hands Across the World, told the State House Anti-Corruption Unit Head Lt Col Edith Nakalema that Kusasira, Mondo and Siraj solicited from them over Ugx 4billion in promise of foreign trips to Israel as well as taking them to President Yoweri Museveni.
The pastors alleged that these accomplices have been using the President’s name and First Lady Janet Kataha Museveni to allegedly commit the fraud.
“They collected money from us promising to take us to Israel, pay school fees for our children as well as involving us in income-generating schemes under Operation Wealth Creation. Each one of us paid more than Ugx100, 000 but since then we have never received anything,” One of the pastors told Col Nakalema.
He added that: “One time we had a meeting and Catherine Kusasira told us that she was representing the President. She assured us that whatever we were promised was to be fulfilled.”
On her part, Col Nakalema assured the aggrieved pastors that their issue would be investigated and worked upon accordingly.
“On behalf of the State House we are very sorry for what happened to you. We are going to work with the responsible authorities to ensure that justice is prevailed,” Nakalema asserted.
