David Balondemu, the Kampala District land board chairperson, has been remanded to Luzira prison on charges of forging a medical form.
He was arrested over the weekend at Entebbe International Airport by detectives from the State House Anti-Corruption Unit while attempting to flee from the country.
Balondemu and his co-accused Dr. Hassan Segujja, a medical officer at Mulago National Referral Hospital, appeared before Ronald Kayizi, the Buganda Road Court Chief Magistrate, on Tuesday, October 15th, 2024, to answer charges of forgery and conspiracy to commit a felony.
It’s alleged that Balondemu and others conspired knowingly to forge a prescription medical form dated November 27, 2023, last year.
The duo was remanded to Luzira prison until October 21, when they will reappear before the same court.
“Enquiries into this matter are now complete. However, we are unable to proceed to the hearing stage as the co-accused is currently absent from court, having been issued a warrant of arrest by this court. We request that the warrant be extended,” state attorney Viola Tusingwire said.
Balondemu’s struggles began in 2023 when he was arraigned before the same court on charges of obtaining money under false pretense and acquiring medical documents to support his bail application.
He had been accused of fraud in connection with obtaining more than Shs2 billion from a United States-based firm, KG Unlimited LLC, together with his co-accused, Joseph Ibona, an accountant at Bloom Advocates Limited, and another lawyer, Eric Geoffrey Mkwe.
Balondemu presented documents to Grade One Magistrate Nankya’s court, stating he had a scheduled surgery at Kampala Hospital and he was released from prison. The money charges were dropped due to a lack of evidence, but this debt is still determined to prosecute Balondemu.