Kampala, Uganda | URN | The Buganda Road Chief Magistrates’ Court has remanded businessman Ibrahim Muwonge, also known as Ibra, to Luzira Prison over allegations of a fertiliser fraud involving more than 750 metric tonnes of fertiliser valued at more than two billion shillings. ($551,880)
On Monday, Muwonge appeared before Senior Principal Grade One Magistrate Winnie Nankya Jatiko, where he took a plea on charges of obtaining goods by false pretences, electronic fraud, forgery, uttering false documents, sale of agricultural chemicals without registration, and conspiracy to commit a felony.
Court has heard that Muwonge, together with Ronnie Mukasa, a businessman aged 45 from Kidimanyaga Zone, Makindye Ssabagabo, and Isaac Sseruyigo , a 36-year-old clearing agent from Mutundwe, Rubaga Division, Kampala, fraudulently obtained fertiliser from a Turkish firm, Iskenderun Gubre Sanayii A.S between February and December 2023.
Mukasa and Seruyigo haven’t yet been arrested. The Court has issued a criminal summons for them to appear at the next session.
Prosecution alleges that the accused purported that their company, Kureha Uganda Limited, was affiliated with the Japanese firm Kureha Corporation, despite having no such connection.
Specifically, the court heard that they obtained fertiliser worth USD 551,880 through deceptive emails sent from a fabricated address, sales@kurehacorporation.com, claiming corporate ties that did not exist.
Sseruyigo is further accused of forging a request for an import permit for agricultural chemicals, indicating that Kureha Uganda Limited had storage facilities at Busika, Luwero District, when in fact it did not.
He allegedly submitted these false documents to the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry, and Fisheries in Entebbe to secure the permits.
Muwonge, on his part, is charged with forging multiple applications, including those for registration as a dealer and for the registration of premises for Kureha Uganda Limited, and falsely representing himself as the managing director with offices in Busika, Luwero District.
These documents were also allegedly submitted to the Ministry of Agriculture and the Agricultural Chemicals Board, which enabled him to sell fertiliser without proper registration.
The prosecution further alleges that all three conspirators acted together to defraud the fertiliser supplier.
The case is being prosecuted by State Attorney Viola Tusingwire, who indicated that inquiries into the matter are ongoing and requested an adjournment for mention.
Muwonge, who has since denied the charges against him, has been remanded until May 28th, 2026.
Muwonge was arrested in Entebbe over the weekend by the police, together with detectives attached to the State House Anti-Corruption Unit headed by Brigadier Isoke. He was then transported to Kampala to face justice.
Cases of fraud and obtaining money by false pretence are so common at Buganda Road Court, especially by Ugandans targeting unsuspecting investors from different countries outside Uganda.
