The Anti-Corruption Division of the High Court has granted Matthew Bagonza, the head of the secretariat of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Export and Industrial Development (PACEID), Shs20 million cash bail after he spent nearly four weeks on remand at Luzira Prison over charges of abuse of office and money laundering.
Justice Jane Okuo Kajuga granted Bagonza bail on October 14, ordering each of his five sureties to execute a non-cash bond of Shs30 million. The judge also directed him to surrender his passport and deposit two land titles, including one belonging to his sister, as additional security.
Bagonza must obtain court permission before travelling outside the court’s jurisdiction and report to the registrar on every date his case comes up for mention before the magistrate’s court.
The ruling followed Bagonza’s arrest and subsequent arraignment in September. He was arrested on September 16 and appeared before the Anti-Corruption Court on September 17, when he was remanded to Luzira Prison until October 5 for further directions. He did not enter a plea after his lawyers challenged the court’s jurisdiction to hear the charges.
Bagonza’s lawyers, John Isabirye and James Muhwezi, argued during the bail application that their client had a fixed place of abode, substantial sureties and no history of absconding from court. They also submitted that he was not a flight risk, would not interfere with prosecution witnesses and had no known previous criminal record.
The prosecution opposed his release, arguing that the seriousness of the offences could tempt him to flee the country. The state also questioned whether the proposed sureties, whom it described as busy people, would be able to ensure his attendance in court.
However, Justice Kajuga found the sureties credible and noted that Bagonza had established places of abode. The court also considered the additional security offered, including the two land titles, when determining the conditions for his release.
Bagonza faces allegations that in January 2024, while serving as head of the PACEID secretariat under the Office of the President, he abused his office by irregularly registering and incorporating a private company called Presidential Initiative on Export and Industrial Development. Prosecutors allege that the company had objectives similar to those of PACEID and that its incorporation was prejudicial to the interests of the government.
He is also accused of laundering Shs171.7 million allegedly transferred between September 1, 2023, and August 30, 2026, from an account at Housing Finance Bank’s Kololo branch held in the name of the Office of the President-Presidential Advisory Committee on Export and Industrial Development to his personal account at the same bank.
The prosecution alleges that the transactions were intended to conceal or disguise the illicit origin of the money. The allegations have not been proved in court, and Bagonza remains presumed innocent until proven guilty.
The case has attracted public attention because of Bagonza’s position at PACEID, a government advisory body tasked with promoting exports and industrial development. The proceedings are expected to continue as the court addresses the charges against him.
