Mukono, Uganda
Richard Walusimbi, the headteacher of Smile High School-Nantabulirwa in Mukono, has been remanded for his alleged involvement in a sinister plot that has left the community reeling.
The seasoned educator, who had previously served as the headteacher of Mulasa Academy-Wobulenzi, now finds himself behind bars, accused of defrauding the school director in a fraudulent gold scam.
This case has not only tarnished his reputation but also raised serious concerns about the lengths some individuals will go to for financial gain.
Walusimbi was not alone in this criminal endeavour. He was remanded alongside two other suspects, Godfrey Nsubuga and Isaac Wasswa Ssenfuka, who were also implicated in the scheme.
The trio was brought before Grade I Magistrate Moses Otim in Mukono, where they were ordered to be remanded to Kauga prison, pending further investigation.
The allegations have sent shockwaves through the community, as the case’s disturbing details continue to unfold.
These men, along with others who are still at large, tricked Grace Bagaala Nalweyiso, the owner of Smile High School, out of 56 million shillings by promising her a share of land that supposedly had gold buried underground.
According to initial reports, the suspects presented this deal to Nalweyiso, convincing her that she could earn about 300 million shillings in six months once the gold was extracted.
“They took the money in instalments on different days around 30 million was for buying shares, and the rest was for mercury. They collected the money through my headteacher, who I trusted because he is older,” Nalweyiso shared.
She further explained that after nearly three months of waiting without being taken to see the gold site, she started to become suspicious.
When Nalweyiso started asking questions, the headteacher assured her that Nsubuga would soon call with final instructions for the next steps.
“Right after our call, Nsubuga contacted me, saying we had to attend a gold-related traditional ritual at the River Nile. He told me to keep it a secret and to come alone, as the ceremony would take place at 1 a.m. This made me very uneasy, so I reached out to a friend, who connected me with the police CID in Mukono for further investigation,” Nalweyiso recounted.
Police investigations revealed a shocking plan, the headteacher intended to throw Nalweyiso into the Nile River in the early hours of the morning, where no one would witness the crime.
Acting on police advice, Nalweyiso agreed to go along with the suspects to the supposed ritual ceremony in Jinja, leading to their arrest.
However, other members of their group, known as the Uganda Mineral Brokers Association (UMBA), are still on the run.
Interestingly, when the police searched the headteacher’s home, they discovered the title deed and registration documents for Nalweyiso’s school, neatly packed in a bag.
It turned out that the headteacher had sneaked into her home and stolen these documents without her realizing it.
The plan was chilling, had Nalweyiso been sacrificed at the Nile, the suspects involved in the gold scam would have been free from any obligation, as they had instructed her to keep the entire process a secret.
With Nalweyiso out of the picture, it would have been easy for the headteacher to transfer ownership of the school to himself, as he had already secured all the necessary documents.
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