Kampala land boss granted bail

The Kampala District Land Board Chairperson, Mr. David Balondemu, has been granted bail by the Buganda Road Magistrates Court after being charged with forgery.

He was ordered to pay a cash bail of Shs5 million and his sureties, including his wife, sister, and brother-in-law, were each ordered to execute a non-cash bond of Shs 20 million. Additionally, Balondemu must surrender his passport to the court and refrain from traveling outside the country without prior court approval.

“I therefore find that the accused person possibly did not read the summons and therefore did not deliberately refuse to honor the said summons,” the trial magistrate, Ronald Kayizzi said on Thursday.

Balondemu has been in custody at Luzira Prison since October 15, 2024. He is facing charges jointly with a medical doctor attached to Mulago Hospital, Mr. Hassan Segujja, who is currently wanted by the court.

According to the prosecution, Dr. Segujja, in collusion with others, forged a prescription medical form in 2023, falsely indicating that Balondemu was a patient at Kampala Hospital. The forged prescription form and CT scan were allegedly created between June 12 and November 7, 2023.

These documents were presented to the Buganda Road Court as evidence to secure Balondemu’s bail in a previous case where he was accused of obtaining over US Dollars 50,000 from KG Unlimited LLC under false pretenses.

The case has been scheduled for hearing on November 26, 2024, and the warrant of arrest against Dr. Segujja has been extended to the same date.

Written by Ruth Anderah