By Sadique Bamwita
KAMPALA
The Anti-Corruption Court presided over by Chief Magistrate, Racheal Nakyazze, on October 31, 2025, granted bail to Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) officials implicated in corruption and causing financial loss amounting to over Shs9.3 billion.
Those who successfully secured Court bail after fulfilling bail requirements include; ICT Manager Alfred Emmanuel Ndikusooka, Senior Warden Accounts Robert Maani, Director of Finance and Administration Jimmy Mugisa, Warden Software Developer Gilbert Mwesigwa, former Head of Reservations Leslie Muhindo, and Director of Tourism and Business Development- Stephen Sanya Masaba, among others.
Earlier on, 11 of the accused officials had applied for Court bail but only nine succeeded to secure bail after presenting sureties and local council letters. The other two didn’t succeed because of late submission of the required documents. Their bail conditions include cash payments, depositing land titles and passports, and restrictions on travel abroad.
The Magistrate adjourned the case to November 11, 2025 when they return to court for further roasting.
It should be recalled that last week, the eleven crafty officials were interrogated at the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) headquarters in Kibuli and thereafter detained over their alleged involvement in a large-scale chimpanzee and gorilla permit fraud scam that occurred between 2020 and 2023.
They were later produced before Anti-Corruption Court and were charged with corruption, causing financial loss, and conspiracy to defraud the government of Shs9.3 billion.
According to the charge sheet, it’s alleged the money hungry officials manipulated the GoChimp digital permit system, and issued over 8,400 invalid permits for chimpanzee and gorilla tracking activities. The fake permits allegedly allowed unauthorized access to protected areas, including Nyakagezi, Ruhija, Nkuringo, Rushaga, Buhoma, Kyambura, and Kanyanchu, causing financial losses of over Shs 8.7 billion.
