Imere, who was a supervisor in the Domestic Tax Department of the Uganda Revenue Authority, who was on bail pending the final decision of his appeal, was re-arrested at Twed Tower and taken back to Luzira Prison following the court’s ruling that he should serve his custodial sentence.
Justice Remmy Kasule headed the panel. The other members were Justices Eldad Mwangusya and Fred Egonda-Ntende.
In 2011 Imere was indicted and tried by High Court judge Paul Kahaibale Mugamba of the Anti-Corruption Division, who found him guilty of soliciting sh100m for his own gain in exchange of reducing tax from a total of sh1,019,878,753 to sh230m for Lubmarks Investments Limited. He sentenced Imere to three years imprisonment.
Being dissatisfied, Imere appealed against the conviction and the sentence. He was also granted bail upon application. He has since been a free man until he was re-arrested and taken back to Luzira Prison on January 19, 2015 to start serving his goal.
It had been submitted by the prosecution that in 2010, Imere and two other URA officers, at the Crested Towers, were assigned to audit Lubmarks Investments Ltd. They assessed the company into taxes amounting to sh1,091,878,753, which the company disputed and asked for more time to produce records to support its dissatisfaction.
It was further submitted that meanwhile, the two Imere’s colleagues went on their statutory leave of duty. It alleged that during that time, Imere solicited the alleged bribe and revised the tax for the company following negotiations with a company director. Imere pleaded that he had been set up.
The court noted that the offence for which Imere was convicted attracts a maximum sentence of 10 years or a fine not exceeding 240 currency points. The court agreed with the prosecution’s submissions for a deterrent sentence, preferably custodial as a warning to public officials.
