Mr Dodoviko Mwanje, the businessman accused of demolishing St Peter’s Church Ndeeba in Kampala, was yesterday charged in court and remanded to Kitalya prison.
Mr. Mwanje appeared with Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) acting director for physical planning, Ivan Katongole, and senior police officer Martin Odero before Makindye Chief Magistrate’s Court which sat at the High Court in Kampala.
At the time of the church demolition on August 9, Mr. Odero was Kampala Metropolitan South Zonal Commander for the Field Force Unit, while Mr. Katongole is alleged to have approved the demolition.
The three however denied accusations of conspiracy to commit an offense. The presiding magistrate, Ms. Prossy Katushabe, remanded the accused until September 4. The three suspects are part of the 23 people, including senior police officers, who were last week remanded to prison over the same case.
Last Thursday, Lubaga Division building inspector Richard Naika and Division Internal Security Officer Ali Mukwaya were remanded over the same accusations. They also denied the charges.
The rest of the suspects yesterday appeared before the same court via video conferencing technology and applied for bail.
The prosecution alleges that between March and August, the group conspired with several senior police officers and other people who are on remand at Kitalya prison to demolish the 49-year-old church, which is the property of the Church of Uganda.
Others implicated are senior police officers are Mr. Mugisha Yeko Kato, the officer-in-charge of Ndeeba Police, Katwe Division Police commander David Epedu and Mr. Rashid Agero.
The police officers face a separate charge of disobeying lawful orders of Kampala Metropolitan Police Commander Moses Kafeero, which were to oversee deployment at the church in order to prevent the demolition.
