Fifteen officials from the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) have been charged with multiple counts of corruption and causing financial loss exceeding Shs9.3 billion in a scandal involving fraudulent gorilla and chimpanzee tracking permits.
According to the charge sheet, the suspects allegedly manipulated UWA’s online Go Chimp reservation system to issue thousands of invalid permits between July 2020 and September 2023.
The accused include senior and mid-level officers from finance, ICT, tourism, and reservations departments.
Notable names are Stephen Sanya Masaba, director of tourism and business development; Jimmy Mugisa, director of finance and administration; Robert Maani, senior warden accounts; and Leslie Muhindo, former head of reservations.
Others include ICT Manager Alfred Emmanuel Ndikusooka, Warden Software Developer Gilbert Mwesigwa, and several sales executives.
Investigators allege that the suspects either neglected their duties or actively used their access credentials to insert, confirm, and print invalid gorilla and chimpanzee tracking permits.
These permits allowed unauthorized access to protected areas including Buhoma, Nkuringo, Ruhija, Rushaga, Nyakagezi, Kanyanchu, and Kyambura, resulting in losses of more than USD 2.5 million.
The charge sheet also includes a conspiracy to defraud count, claiming the accused colluded with others still at large to issue over 8,400 fake permits, undermining a key source of Uganda’s conservation revenue.
Each official faces charges under Sections 2(1), 19(1), and 26 of the Anti-Corruption Act, Cap 116, covering corruption, neglect of duty, and causing financial loss.
The case follows internal audits that uncovered irregularities in the Go Chimp system, prompting investigations by the police’s Criminal Investigations Directorate and the Inspectorate of Government.
The accused have been arraigned before the Anti-Corruption Court in Kampala, with proceedings ongoing as investigators pursue additional suspects linked to the digital fraud ring exploiting Uganda’s primate tourism program.