State House Officials Netted Over Extortion

The police are holding two State House officials over alleged fraud.
The police identified the arrested officers as Mr Wilberforce Turyakira, an environmental officer in State House and Capt Emmanuel Abaho of Special Forces Command.

The arrests followed a tip-off from a businesswoman identified as Ms Esther Ampumuza, a resident of Mityana, who said the suspects threatened to demolish her hotel claiming that it is built in a wetland.

Ms Ampumuza said the two told her that they were from the State House environmental desk and asked whether her hotel and other lodging facilities had been cleared by National Environmental Management Authority.

“These two gentlemen came to me saying that they are from State House and they were accusing me of not following the environmental guidelines and so they wanted to arrest me, I pleaded with them and we agreed to meet in Kampala to settle this (matter) amicably,” Ms Ampumuza said.
Ms Ampumuza was advised to carry the money they had demanded from her and agreed to meet at Café Javas on Kampala Road.

She later called the deputy Coordinator of Operation Wealth Creation, Lt Gen Charles Angina, who alerted the head of the State House Anti-Corruption Unit Lt Col Edith Nakalema.

The suspects were arrested at the venue by a joint team of police and State House Anti-Corruption Unit as they received the Shs8m from Ms Ampumuza.
They are being held at the Central Police Station in Kampala on charges of fraud.