Kampala, Uganda | NOW THEN DIGITAL — Betty Kamya, the Inspector General of Government, has decided to withdraw bribery charges against former Uganda Bureau of Standards (UNBS) Executive Director, Ebiru David Livingstone. These charges were related to allegations that Ebiru offered a bribe to Charles Masekuura, the UNBS board chairperson, between October and December 2022 in an attempt to retain his position as the UNBS Executive Director.
A letter from the Deputy IGG, Dr. Patricia Achan Okiria, states that the government of Uganda is no longer pursuing the case. The letter, addressed to the trial Magistrate and High Court Anti-Corruption Division, does not specify the reasons for withdrawing the charges.
Ebiru will be formally discharged on October 31, 2023, during the mention of the case before the trial Chief Magistrate Joan Aciro. Notably, the charges were withdrawn without Ebiru ever appearing in court. He was arrested on July 26, 2023, but was released under unclear circumstances. Subsequently, a criminal summons was issued for his appearance in court, but he did not show up.
A warrant of arrest had been issued against him earlier, and he was briefly taken to court cells but returned to the office of the IGG/police before the court proceedings could begin. Following this, his lawyers filed a case in the High Court challenging the legality of the charges, and Lady Justice Jane Kajuga dismissed this application on September 20, 2023, allowing the withdrawn charges to continue.
Ebiru had previously stated that he bribed UNBS Board Chair, Charles Musekura, with one hundred million shillings, but later retracted his confession, claiming it was made out of anger and that he had not actually bribed anyone. He was subsequently dismissed from his position in August after investigations by the parliamentary probe and the Uganda Bureau of Standards (UNBS) Board.
