Former Uganda Airlines CEO Cornwell Muleya has been acquitted of the charges related to disobedience of lawful orders of the IGG by the Buganda Road magistrates court in Kampala.
Muleya was arrested in June by the Inspectorate of Government and slapped with charges related to disobedience.
According to the prosecution, Muleya failed to respond to May 23, 2022 summons by the IGG to furnish the ombudsman with information regarding the mismanagement of the national carrier in his capacity as its Chief executive.
Prosecution said that while other Uganda Airlines staff recorded statements, Muleya refused to heed to requests to explain more about the rot but also failed to give reasons for not responding to the request, prompting the IGG to arrest him
Muleya was recently put to his defence in which he indicated that he never disobeyed any orders as alleged, noting that he saw an email from an unknown person in his junk email folder asking him to carry his passport which he said was strange and suspicious.
He insisted that despite having a well-known home, no person ever bothered to bring the said summons.
On Monday, grade one magistrate, Asuman Muhumuza reasoned with Muleya that on failure to show up after being summoned by the IGG.
“Having examined the evidence on record as a whole and subjected it to a thorough and exhaustive scrutiny I find that Muleya’s failure to appear before IGG was excusable,” the magistrate ruled.
In his defence, the former Uganda Airlines CEO said when he received the summons asking him to appear on June,1, he spoke to his lawyer who wrote to the IGG requiring more explanations about the summons that also required him to appear with his passport.
The magistrate blasted the IGG for rushing to prefer criminal charges against the former Uganda Airline CEO over a minor issue of not communicating to the ombudsman after healing from the sickness.