Today in History: Museveni Pardons Former Public Service PS Jimmy Lwamafa

What the report says

President Yoweri Museveni pardoned former Ministry of Public Service Permanent Secretary Jimmy Lwamafa on August 20, 2023, ending his imprisonment over a pension scam case. The pardon was made under Article 121 of Uganda’s Constitution, which covers the prerogative of mercy, and was later announced and gazetted by Uganda Prison Services on August 28, 2023.

According to Nile Post, Lwamafa had been serving a cumulative 22-year sentence at Luzira Maximum Security Prison after the Anti-Corruption Court convicted him of abuse of office, false accounting and causing financial loss. The case was linked to alleged diversion of public funds intended for pension beneficiaries, with former Principal Accountant Christopher Obey and former Director of Research Stephen Kiwanuka Kunsa also named in the broader scandal.

Nile Post reported that Lwamafa was one of 200 inmates granted clemency. Prison spokesperson Frank Baine said he qualified because he was over 65, had shown good conduct in prison and was suffering from terminal health conditions. He was released from Luzira on August 29, 2023.

The development matters because it ended the incarceration of a senior former civil servant convicted in one of Uganda’s notable corruption cases, while also highlighting how presidential pardon powers can be applied in cases involving age, conduct and serious illness.