Technician admits to damaging 32 ACs of Bank of Uganda 

A 48-year-old technician has survived a seven-year jail term after pleading guilty to maliciously damaging 32 air conditioners belonging to Bank of Uganda.

Christopher Ssebirumbi who didn’t waste Buganda Road Chief Magistrate’s court time after pleading guilty was sentenced to caution. On Wednesday he appeared before grade one magistrate Siena Owomugisha.

He told the court that he has repaired the central bank elevators since 1997 but on May 7, while he was doing normal repairs,  he accidentally damaged the air conditioners. 

Ssebirumbi who appeared composed then asked the court to forgive him, adding that he had never committed any crime before. However, state attorney Lydia Nakato asked the court to hand him a deterrent sentence to mitigate the unspecified loss occasioned by the Bank of Uganda in repairing the damaged air conditioners.

In her ruling, Owomugisha noted that Sebirumbi had no criminal motive and that the damage to the ACs was accidental since he has no such record for the 27 years he has worked with the central bank. She accordingly sentenced Ssebirumbi to a caution and he shed tears.