The Anti-Corruption Court convicted and sentenced Achimo Ruth Etibot, the former Soroti University Secretary to five years in prison.
The Court presided over by Lady Justice Margaret Tibulya on Thursday convicted Achimo on charges of abuse of office, two counts of diversion of public resources, one count of fraudulent false accounting and one count of false accounting by a public officer.
Achimo Etibot who doubled as the Accounting Officer was initially charged together with Edward Obeele who was the University Bursar.
However, Obeele pleaded guilty to the charges through a plea bargain and was sentenced to a fine.
Achimo allegedly used her position to divert over Sh1 billion intended for capital development to the payment of legal fees, employee benefits, and travel expenses without following the proper procedures, which had an impact on projects like acquiring ICT equipment. As a result of its payment default, the university was forced to pay huge fines.
The trial judge noted during her sentencing that the convict’s actions were irregular and carried out with blatant impunity, which no amount of justification could sanitize.
Additionally, Achimo Etibot has been barred from holding public office for the next 10 years.
