One of the state witnesses who has testified against Charles Olimu alias Sipapa in a case where he is charged with office breaking and theft is a Japanese national.
Sipapa is charged with office breaking and theft in addition to robbery of up to Shs1.6 billion and theft of jewelry from a South Sudanese official, for which he was committed to the High Court with his wife Shamira Nakiyimba.
According to the prosecution, on February 3, 2019, Sipapa broke into the Kisugu offices of New Jack Ltd and stole eight computers, four hard drives, one electronic dictionary, five filters, an electronic book, four canon batteries, a backpack, a laptop, and cash worth up to Shs169 million.
The case was heard at Makindye magistrate’s court on Friday, presided over by magistrate Esther Adikini. It had been postponed earlier this year because the first witness, Japanese national Atsushi Waada, was out of the country.
Waada, 50, a Muyenga resident and the owner of New Jack Company Ltd, testified as the first prosecution witness, describing how his company’s offices were broken into and property stolen.
“I’ve never seen the accused because even in the camera footage, all I saw was a tall man whose face I couldn’t recognize because the recording was in black and white. However, in October of last year, police called and informed me that they had apprehended the suspect who had broken into my office, and this is my first time seeing him,” Mr Waada said.
The prosecution, led by Harriet Adong, claims that Sipapa’s fingerprints match those of the person who broke into Waada’s office in 2019, and that this is why he is in court to answer.
However, during his cross-examination with defence lawyer Geoffrey Turwamusiima, Waada was unable to determine the exact amount of money stolen from his account.
