KAMPALA .At least 10 Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) officials are currently behind bars over their involvement in a multi-billion shilling chimpanzee and gorilla permit fraud.
The affected officials who are expected to appear in court this morning were detained following their arrest yesterday by detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, which is investigating the case.
The arrest followed a report by the Auditor General which indicated that forgery of gorilla tracking permits and recycling of payment receipts led to a loss of over She9 billion by the government in just two years.
A police source told this publication that the officials were summoned to record statements but they were later detained because their files were already sanctioned by the Office of the Directorate of Public Prosecution.
Detectives retrieved computer servers and documents from UWA’s headquarters in Kamwokya, Kampala as part of the ongoing probe.
The scandal, which first came to light earlier this year, involves the alleged siphoning of billions of shillings through the manipulation of booking records for primate-tracking permits, often in collusion with private tour operators.
The suspects are expected to be arraigned before the Anti- Corruption Court in Kampala today on charges of corruption and causing financial loss to the government.