Gulu Chief Magistrate’s court on Monday sentenced a 31- year old man to six years in jail for stealing money meant to pay school fees for vulnerable children.
Magistrate Deogratious Ssejemba found Innocent Okello Atye, an office assistant with Action International Ministries, a local charity, guilty of theft contrary to section 264 of the penal code act.
Prosecution led by William Bayo told court that on May 27, 2015, Okello was handed 6.4 million shillings in cash and instructed to go and deposit the money at the charity’s Stanbic Bank and Barclays bank accounts respectively.
Prosecutor proved that Okello never paid the money as he was instructed by his boss, one Peter Oketa.
According to Bayo, the money was meant for school fees for poor students who were under the sponsorship program of the organization.
Okello himself later reported the matter to Gulu Central Police Station saying it was stolen. He told court that he was at the bank hall, when he felt a call of nature and handed the bag containing the money to his friend only identified as Opoka before heading to the toilet.
In his statement to the police, Okello claims that Opoka vanished with the bag containing the six million shilling, a digital camera and a jacket while he (Okello) was using the toilet at Gulu main bus park, a short distance from the bank.
However Okello later changed his statement saying he has never handled any organization money, challenging the charity’s Team Leader to prove that he (Okello) was the organisation’s accountant.
But three prosecution witnesses pinned Okello to the theft leading to his conviction.
In his ruling, Chief Magistrate Ssejemba said there is no doubt that Okello stole the money.
Ssejemba said the man Okello identified Opoka was a fiction made by the suspect in order to escape justice.
The Chief Magistrate said Okello breached the trust and defrauded the organisation and yet the money was meant to support vulnerable children. The magistrate ordered Okello to refund 15% of the money he stole and to serve six years in jail.
