The Wildlife, Standards and Utilities Court in Kampala has remanded five Weighing Scale Mechanics to Luzira prison on charges of obtaining money by false presence and repairing equipment without a license.
The five are: Grace Katana Katende and John Baptist Ssewalu residents in Buloba Village in Wakiso District and Isma Jjingo, Steven Isabirye and Niisha Namuwaya who are residents of Nyendo Mukungwe Division in Masaka City.
The group on Thursday appeared before Court presided over by Grade One Magistrate Sanula Nambozo who read to them the charges.
The Court has heard that the accused persons and others still at large falsely pretended to be licensed weighing scale repairers and with intent to defraud, they obtained 68,000 shillings from Abdul Kamoga.
It is alleged that the money was meant to have been for repairs, testing, and stamping the weighing equipment used or one that is intended to be used for trade when actually they are not licensed.
According to the Prosecution, this crime was committed on March 29th 2022 and April 4th 2022 at Nyendo Trading Centre in Masaka City.
The Court has also heard that the accused persons were found engaged in repairing a weighing scale belonging to Kamoga yet they didn’t have valid weighing and measuring equipment repair licenses.
The State Prosecutors also accuse the suspects of having applied a verification stamp on a weighing scale belonging to Kamoga claiming it had been tested and passed as fit for trade by the Uganda National Bureau of Standards Inspector whereas not.
The Weights and Measures Act mandates UNBS to perform verification of all measuring and weighing equipment used in trade in the country in order to enhance fairness in Trade.
However, the accused persons who were arrested as UNBS exercised its mandate in an operation in Masaka, have all denied the charges and through their lawyer Richard Ssajjabi asked to be granted bail.
The accused did not have sureties and as such, they have been remanded up to April 19th, 2022.
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