The Kampala District Land Board Chairperson, David Balondemu, has been released on bail on October 24, 2024, by the Buganda Road Magistrate’s Court after being charged with forgery.

The court, presided over by Justice Ronald Kayizzi, granted Balondemu a cash bail of UGX 5 million and instructed each of his three sureties, which include his mother, daughter, and brother-in-law to execute a non-cash bond of UGX 20 million as security.

Ronald Kayizzi, the trial Magistrate of Buganda Road Court, ordered Balondemu to deposit his passport before the court and barred him from traveling out of the country without notifying the court.

“I agree with the defense that service via newspaper advertisement is deemed not an effective service, and there is a possibility that the accused persons did not read the newspapers on that day, missing to read the summons issued against him, and therefore he did not deliberately refuse to honor the set summons. I find the sureties substantial and therefore release the accused persons on bail,” Kayizzi noted.

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Balondemu has been under state custody at Luzira prison since October 15, 2024, and he is jointly charged with Allan Segujja, a medical doctor attached to Mulago Hospital, who is also wanted in court to answer charges of forging a prescription medical form.

Prosecution contends that Dr. Ssegujja and others still at large in 2023 at Kampala Hospital knowingly and fraudulently made a false document indicating that Kampala District Land Board Chairman Balondemu was a patient at Kampala Hospital, which was not the case.

He was arrested and arraigned before Buganda Road Court, where he applied for bail while relying on forged medical documents that were scheduled for him for surgery.

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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 USD 50,000 from KG Unlimited LLC under false pretenses.

Prosecution says that when the documents were verified, the hospital denied having authored them and that Balondemu had never been their patient. The medical documents dated June 2, 2023, and November 7, 2023, became contentious, leading to fresh charges being slapped on Balondemu.

HW Kayizzi scheduled the next court hearing for November 26, 2024, and issued the warrant of arrest for Ssegujja further extended to the same date.