Sarah Babirye Kityo, the former Uganda Netball Federation (UNF) president, has been remanded to Luzira prison on charges of false accounting of Shs 186 million by the Anti- Corruption court, following her arrest on November 29, 2023.
Kityo was arraigned before court on Thursday, November 30, 2023, which was presided over by Grade One Magistrate Christopher Opito.
It is alleged that between the months of November and December 2021, Babirye and others still at large made a false accounting of Shs 186 Million while at the UNF office in Kampala, with the intention to defraud.
The prosecution stated that the money was released to the federation by the National Council of Sports (NCS) for the Pent Series and African National Championship in Namibia.
Gloria Inzikuru, the state attorney, asked for an adjournment of the case in order to finalize her investigations, stating that inquiries are still ongoing.
“The other sureties have not ably identified the businesses they do for a court to ascertain if they have the financial capacity to stand surety, and the charges against Babirye are serious in nature,” Inzikuru added.
Babirye, through her lawyers Joshua Byamazima and Joseph Luzige, applied for bail, saying that she has a fixed place of residence within the jurisdiction of the court, arguing that she would attend trial as and when needed and would not abscond from proceedings.
Babirye presented her sureties, who were Adam Kayira, her husband Daniel Ntare, and her sister Diana Tumukunde.
The prosecution objected to bail on the grounds that the sureties presented, especially her husband, had controversies regarding the place of residence since the records before the court show that Babirye is a resident of Maya while the husband is a resident of Lubaga, yet they said that they have been staying together until the arrest of Babirye.
She was remanded until December 1, 2023, for a further bail application hearing.
The events stroll back to the continuing backlash between Kityo and NCS Secretary General Patrick Ogwel after each accused the other of misappropriation of funds and accountability issues.
