Africa-Press – Uganda. The Chief Magistrate’s Court in Lira has sentenced six women to 12 months imprisonment for stealing government murram.
On Thursday, the court found that the accused persons, all residents of Yat-amenya Village, Akura Sub-county in Alebtong District were involved in stealing murram on Alebtong- Lira road worth Shs28 million.
The stolen murram would then be sold to produce dealers for mixing cereals in order to cheat buyers through weighing fake kilograms.
Prosecution asserted that the women committed the offence at Yat-amenya in Akura Sub-county along the Alebtong – Lira central government road between 2017 and August 2021.
The convicts are Stella Arao, Jennifer Apio, Nancy Apong, Ms Connie Abeja, Janet Acen and Caroline Akullu.
They were arrested by police from Alebtong Central Police Station (CPS) on Wednesday.
Their arrest follows a theft complaint lodged by the Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) Station Manager for Lango region, Eng Anthony Okucu, on May 7, 2021.
On Thursday, they appeared before the Chief Magistrate, Mr Samson Abiti Loum on charges of destroying roads under section 63 of the Road Act.
The Chief Magistrate sentenced each of the six women to 12 months in jail after pleading guilty to the charges.
While delivering his ruling, the Chief Magistrate said the offence attracts a fine of Shs4.2 million and a five-year imprisonment.
“This is because what the accused women did is harmful to human health,” he said.
The women appealed to the court to ‘‘give them lenient sentences since they are the breadwinners in their respective families.’’
Some of them said they have young children to take care of.
The magistrate then sentenced each of them to twelve months imprisonment without a fine and asked any of them to appeal in the higher court in case they are not satisfied with the court’s decision.
UNRA has recently rehabilitated the road from Lira to Alebtong District which has for long been in a poor state.
