City businessman and company director at Taifa Partners Limited, Emmanuel Asiimwe on October 11, 2023, was arraigned before the Chief Magistrate – Buganda Road and pinned for forging and uttering false documents. The trial which had been postponed on September 26, 2023, after Asiimwe changing a lawyer kicked off despite the accused lawyer raising unsubstantiated concerns to adjourn the matter. Having failed to convince the Chief Magistrate, the trial started at 11:30 a.m. with the first witness and former shareholder Charles Okello telling the fully parked court that while he was upcountry doing official work for the company, his co-director Asiimwe forged his signature and made special company resolutions without his knowledge. The certified documents were submitted to His Worship Ronald Kayizzi and put on the court record. Okello, a former worker at Asiimwe’s other company, Integrated Agritech Uganda Ltd as a mechanical engineer was appointed director after he bought 5 percent shares in Taifa Partners Ltd. He told the court that after allotting him 5 shares, 10 shares were also allotted to Assa Tumwesigye (also director with powers of attorney) and Asiimwe was appointed the Managing Director with 85 shares in the company.
Asiimwe in the dock at Buganda Road Court
While serving as the Managing Director, he made a special resolution on November 23, 21, and appointed Okello a company secretary. After a short time, he made another resolution transferring the 10 shares meant for Tumwesigye to himself. He possibly did this to acquire 95 percent of shares to make it difficult for other shareholders to demand a poll in making decisions. As an MD with a sole signatory role, he accessed all the company accounts. At some point, Asiimwe recalled Okello from upcountry and told him to raise money so that they further grow the company which the latter was not in a position to do. Asiimwe coerced him to sell his 5 shares and they were allotted them to another investing company, Dapanti Union whose directors were not mentioned in court. With Okello and Tumwesigye ceasing to be directors at Taifa Partners Limited, Dapanti Union came on board. Later Okello was stripped of the role of company secretary. He continued working as a mere company mechanical engineer till February this year when he ceased to have any business with Taifa Partners Ltd.
However, around August this year, Tumwesigye whose shares were transferred through a special resolution without his knowledge confronted Okello and blamed him for conniving with Asiimwe to revoke the powers of attorney to sign contracts with Uganda Prisons and Rwimi Agro-processing plant.
It was at this point that forgery was detected, Okello started realizing that most of the documents carried his name as company secretary with a forged signature since he would not even be in Kampala at the time the documents were signed.
On landing some documents with his name and a forged signature, he gave instructions to a law firm to dig up other documents from various offices including URSB. To his utter shock, more than 5 documents that were tendered in court without Asiimwe’s lawyer’s objection were forged.
Tumwesigye also petitioned the URSB and a ruling to reinstate his powers of attorney was made. On August 11, 2023, the matter came up before Solomon Mulisa of Companies at the Uganda Registration Services Bureau, and upon reading the petition, the declarations in support, reply, and rejoinder, and perusing the written arguments the petitioner’s lawyer, the petitioner (Tumwesigye) succeeded on merit. It was ordered that “…the special resolution dated July 15, 2022, appointing Emmanuel Asiimwe as an authorized representative for the contract awarded by Uganda Prisons Services for the construction and commissioning of a grain processing and storage plant facility at Ibuga Prisons Farm and registered on July 20, 2022, together with Powers of Attorney registered on July 20, 2022, under instrument no. G22070-6077 be expunged from the register and rendered to be of no legal effect. The powers of Attorney were registered on August 31, under instrument no. G210831-4681 in favor of Assa Tumwesigye be reinstated for having been unlawfully revoked. As the trial kicks off, Asiimwe remains in trouble since forging resolutions to give themself, powers of attorney – once prosecuted well may attract a life sentence. The matter was adjourned pending Okello’s cross-examination to November 6. 2023.
