Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The International Crimes Division of the High Court convicted two senior bosses of the labour export company Middle East Consultants for promoting human trafficking and forgery.
The duo was arrested in 2019 for various human trafficking-related cases.
The convicted are Benon Kunywana, 36 and Godfrey Kyalimpa, 48 who held positions of general manager and vetting officer respectively at the company.
In the matter handled by Okui Jacqueline, a senior State Attorney in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the two were convicted after pleading guilty to attempting to traffic about 50 migrant workers in 2019.
They were also found guilty of using forged documents purportedly from the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development in attempting to traffic Ugandans out of Uganda.
At the commencement of the trial, the duo opted for a plea bargain and were accordingly convicted and sentenced by Justice Wejuli Richard to a fine of Shs2 million in respect of each count of promoting trafficking in persons and default two years and 10 days imprisonment.
They were further convicted and sentenced to a fine of Shs3 million in respect of forgery and default three years and 10 days imprisonment.
The imprisonment terms are to run concurrently.