Former MUBS principal, Prof. Waswa Balunywa was on Friday granted bail by the Anti-Corruption Court after spending three nights on remand at Luzira Prison over corruption-related charges.
Chief Magistrate Racheal Nakyazze set bail at Shs 5 million cash in one case and Shs 10 million cash in another, where the 69-year-old academic is accused of irregular staff appointments and illegal mass recruitment.
Each surety was bonded at Shs 50 million non-cash in the first case and Shs 100 million non-cash in the second.
The court further ordered that his passport remain under custody and his land title retained as additional security.
Prosecutors had opposed his release, arguing that his sureties were too young to effectively guarantee his compliance and that multiple active cases justified continued detention.
However, Magistrate Nakyazze overruled, stressing the presumption of innocence and the strength of Balunywa’s ties with his sureties.
The state accuses Prof. Balunywa of exceeding his authority between 2020 and 2023 by hiring 103 academic staff, 17 administrative staff, and 69 support staff outside laid-down institutional procedures.
In a related case, he is alleged to have recruited three unqualified administrative assistants James Arike, Nathan Nuwagira, and Nimrod Kakayi — creating unnecessary financial obligations for government.
He is jointly charged with former Acting Human Resource Director Jacqueline Namaganda, who faces three counts of neglect of duty for failing to verify the eligibility of the recruits. Both denied the charges.
Prof. Balunywa, a towering figure in Uganda’s academic landscape, retired in May 2023 after 26 years at the helm of MUBS.
His leadership was not without controversy in 2018, Education Minister Janet Museveni ordered his replacement, only for President Museveni to intervene and extend his tenure, lauding his “liberation ideology” and administrative record.
The cases return to court on October 15 for mention and pre-trial proceedings.
