By Mulengera Reporters
On Monday 12th January 2026, the UCC prosecutors presented brief facts in the case of the 28-year-old primary school teacher Ernest Edengel who recently got overwhelmed by prosecution evidence and opted to plead guilty for using simcards technology to commit fraudulent activities in the far Eastern Ugandan district of Pallisa.
Edengel, who has been on remand since his arrest and arraignment in March, spent years defrauding especially jobless teachers and medics seeking to be enrolled on the government payroll, in Pallisa district where he hails from.
He was using simcards registered in the names of former Agule County MP Francis Mukula. His victims, who also included parents desperate to get scholarships for their children or even opportunities to travel for work abroad, negotiated with and kept sending money to Edengel via the simcards he personally had recommended to them. All along, the victims believed they were dealing with the real Hon Francis Mukula himself, whereas not.
Edengel, who had more than 50 simcards on him on the day he was arrested from the Luwero Busika primary school where he had been hiding while pretending to be teaching, would ask his victims to send the cash via mobile money using the simcards he would have given to them.
He was supposed to be merely the conduit delivering money to key decision makers at Kampala-based Education and Health Service Commissions. In return, the victims (some of whom had to borrow from money lenders and even sell family land, cattle and goats to be able to raise the cash) expected to land life-changing scholarships, job opportunities and visa permission to travel to their dream destinations abroad for work.
After years and months of successful impersonation, Hon Mukula came to learn of what had been going on in his name when some of the victims (who Edengel always only spoke to on phone without ever allowing face to face meetings) began to furiously confront him at public functions, demanding the refund of their monies.
He filed cases and complaints to Police until when the matter was eventually escalated to UCC whose cyber investigators worked with Police to investigate and track down Edengel who (for months) had been on Police wanted list. Many witnesses were presented to pin him by UCC prosecutors at the Makindye-based Utilities Court, including Police investigators, the arresting officers, Hon Mukula himself and others.
Late last year, the trial Magistrate Gladys Kamasanyu ruled that the accused person had a case to answer and, unable to call any defence witnesses, Edengel signalled readiness to enter a plea-bargaining deal as opposed to wasting more Court time trying to defend himself against what seemed indefensible because of the overwhelming evidence the UCC lawyers had produced. Edengel, who was charged on 12 counts, assured the Magistrate he wanted to plead guilty.
On Monday 12th January, when the Court re-convened from the long holiday, the UCC prosecutors presented brief facts and went on to have Edengel formally convicted on his own plea of guilty.
The triumphant UCC prosecutors also submitted on the aggravating factors, demanding for maximum punishment ahead of the impending sentencing which is slated for 27th January.
Edengel was charged with commission of fraud upon telecom customers (which attracts a maximum jail sentence of more than two years or a fine of Ugx960,000), obtaining money by false pretence (which attracts a maximum jail term of 5 years, without the option of fine) and using another person’s simcard to promote criminal activities (which fetches a maximum jail term of 3 years or a fine of Shs1m).
Led by Dr. Abdul Salaam Waiswa, who heads the Legal Directorate at UCC, the prosecutors called for maximum jail sentence on grounds that the offences Edengel committed are rampant and lately on the rise among his fellow youths, hence the need for deterrent sentencing.
The other aggravating factor is that one of the victims was a poor widow in rural Pallisa who had to borrow from money lenders in order to be able to pay the money the extortionist Edengel was demanding.
It was also submitted that Edengel’s acts greatly impacted the reputation of Hon. Francis Mukula who was even unable to win the subsequent election because of the fact that the convict’s impersonation dented his name among community members.
That the accused person deserves maximum sentencing because he wasted Court’s time, as prosecution had to bring many witnesses trying to prove the commission of the offences Edengel knew he had committed, instead of pleading guilty from the very inception of his criminal trial.
MITIGATION FACTORS:
Edengel, who succeeded in his fraudulent activities by using simcards registered in the names of a Pallisa villager who had exactly similar names like Hon Francis Mukula’s, called on Court to judge him leniently by letting him go (since he has been on remand since March) so that he can go look for money to facilitate the compensation of his victims. One victim has to be compensated Shs1.5m that was paid to Edengel, another Shs800,000 and another Shs450,000.
Edengel told Her Worship Gladys Kamasanyu, the trial Magistrate, that he needs to be released immediately so that he resumes his teaching job so that he gets the money to re-imburse his victims. He also said he is still a young man (not yet 30) implying that he can reform and once again become a useful citizen of Uganda and participate in nation building.
He said he had learnt and got lured into commission of such crimes due to the bad friends he had as a young man, who exposed him to peer influence, which pushed him into fraudulent activities.
“Since I’m a very good teacher, I will get new friends and also use the experience the prison has exposed me to, to teach my fellow youths about the dangers of engaging in criminal activities,” Edengel pleaded to Court during the Monday 12th January session.
“I’m remorseful for my actions and I promise to become a more useful citizen of Uganda and to contribute to the development of my country given that I had even enrolled for further studies,” Edengel added. He also pleaded with the Magistrate to release him so that he returns home to raise his young child while providing for his wife and elderly parents.
Having heard from both sides, Magistrate Gladys Kamasanyu adjourned the matter to 27th January when she will be proclaiming her sentencing against Ernest Edengel. On that same day, she will be pronouncing herself on several other matters which the UCC prosecutors have been prosecuting in her Court. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
