Buganda Road Court has declined to grant bail to Ethiopian national Tigist Ayalew, who is accused of masterminding a Shs917 million land fraud scheme.
Chief Magistrate Ronald Kayizzi ruled on Thursday that Ayalew could not be trusted with temporary freedom after failing to produce substantial sureties capable of guaranteeing her attendance in court.
He emphasized that the case involved nearly a billion shillings and none of the guarantors presented had the proven financial capacity to cover the bond in case of absconding.
“The case involves over Shs900 million and none of the sureties presented have demonstrated to court that they have the capacity to pay the court bond if the accused person absconded,” Mr. Kayizzi observed.
Ayalew, together with Ugandan lawyers Bob Mwanjuzi and Lawrence Kalamu, is accused of defrauding businesswoman Kalpana Abe by using a forged 10-year land lease to lure her into a bogus investment transaction between SEMA Holding Limited and Ephrata Investments Group Limited.
Prosecutors say the trio pocketed Shs917 million between January and August 2023.
In addition to the fraud allegations, prosecutors claim Ayalew has been running private businesses, including nightclubs in Kampala, without a work permit, placing her among a growing number of foreign nationals allegedly operating unlawfully in Uganda’s economy.
The court has also issued criminal summons for a fourth suspect, Sisay Bekure Melkamu, who remains at large.
The case, which returns to court on September 10, has drawn attention to persistent weaknesses in Uganda’s land registry system, where forged documents and fraudulent transactions continue to undermine investor confidence.
