By Our Reporter
NATIONAL
Buganda Road Chief Magistrates Court has remanded Kampala-based lawyer, Drake Twebaze Katabazi to Luzira Prison over charges of conspiring with others, including Kampala District Land Board Chairman David Balondemu, to defraud an American company of over Shs2 billion.
On Tuesday, 10th June, 2025, Grade One Magistrate Alex Niyonzima presided over the court session in which Katabazi denied all charges.
He is accused of Obtaining Money by False Pretenses, Conspiracy to Defraud, and Forgery.
Between September and December 2022, in Kampala City, the accused together with others allegedly obtained $553,500 from Talib Antonio McDowell of KG Unlimited LLC, Florida, USA, by falsely claiming that the money was necessary as a statutory compliance fee for pre-qualification to participate in a single-source bidding process for supplying a water plant to the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industries, and Fisheries, whereas not.
Additionally, he and his co-accused forged a letter to KG Unlimited LLC, purporting it to be a document authored by the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority whereas not.
The prosecution requested more time to verify the documents presented by his sureties. As a result, the court remanded him to Luzira Prison until June 13, 2025, when his bail application will be reconsidered.
Katabazi, a resident of Rushebeya Trading Centre in Kitojo Parish, Rwamucucu Sub-county, Rukiga District, is jointly charged with five others. These include David Balondemu, who is also a lawyer and Chairman of the Kampala District Land Board; Joseph Ibona, an accountant at Bloom Advocates; Ronald Kaweesa Tumusiime Kizito alias Denis, a carpenter from Mbogo in Kawempe; Martin Kasenge alias Dr. Alfred Musinguzi, a businessman based in Kkungu, Kira Division in Wakiso District; and Eric Geoffrey Mkwe, also a lawyer.
According to the prosecution, between November 2022 and April 2023, the accused and others still at large defrauded Talib Antonio McDowell, a representative of KG Unlimited LLC, an American company, of USD 553,000 (approximately Shs2.08 billion).
Prosecutors also stated that the accused forged a letter addressed to KG Unlimited LLC, purporting it to be authored by the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA), to lend credibility to the scheme. Katabazi’s arrest followed an operation by the State House Anti-Corruption Unit led by Brigadier Henry Isoke. He was detained in police custody last week and remained in the cells until he was brought before the court on Tuesday.
While the other accused persons had earlier been charged and granted bail, their trial has yet to begin as investigations continue and authorities pursue additional suspects still on the run.
