Buganda road court grade one Magistrate Gladys Kamasanyu has transferred the case in which born again pastor, Siraje Ssemanda is charged with defrauding UGX 4 billion from believers and fellow pastors by promising them jobs abroad and scholarships from state house to Tororo Magistrates court.
The magistrate has ruled that the case should be heard in Tororo since most of the cases against him originated from Tororo district despite state insisting that both Buganda road court and Tororo magistrate court have jurisdictions to hear the said case.
State further states that this will be more convenient for most of the witnesses instead of having them commute from Tororo to Kampala during trial
The court has now been ordered that the case file be transferred back to the chief Registrar so that Siraj can be charged on the 21st December 21st 2020.
The founder of Revival Church Bombo charged on two different files, one file containing 16 counts and another one count.
Prosecution states that in the month of February 2018 at various Pentecostal Churches and schools in Tororo district with intent to defraud obtained 82,555,000 shillings from Geoffrey Owor Sues , a pastor and coordinator of all Pentecostal Churches in Tororo pretending that they would in turn pay half bursary school fees to various student/pupil, help build up churches and give the faithful start up capital for business whereas not.
Prosecution adds that between May and November 2018 at Revival Church in Bombo with intend to defraud, pastor Ssemanda obtained millions of shillings from several school directors and church followers by falsely pretending that he was going to give their students half bursary fees and money to start up businesses.
He was arrested by the anti corruption unit of the state house led by col.Edith Nakalema.