Kazinda To Pay 77m To Bigirimana

Disgraced former principal accountant for the Office Of The Prime Minister Geoffrey Kazinda has been ordered to pay sh77.3m as costs to Pius Bigirimana.

The money was awarded to Bigirimana after Kazinda filed a law suit accusing Birigimana of defaming him in a published book.

Birimana is the former Permanent Secretary OPM and was Kazinda’s boss before the latter was arrested and charged with swindling public funds.

After Kazinda had been sued in court, Bigirimana published a book titled ‘Corruption, A Tale Of Wolves In Sheep’s Skin’ in which he details the corrupt practices of Kazinda and others.

Kazinda who was convicted of embezzlement of public funds sued Bigirimana arguing that the contents of the book defamed his character.

Kazinda was later convicted and is still defending himself against more cases related to corruption and embezzlement.

Bigirimana was transferred from OPM and is currently the PS at the ministry of Gender Labour and Social Development.

Kazinda had asked court to commit Bigirimana to a civil prison, order him to pay sh6b as compensation for defaming him. He had also asked court to halt the sale of the book and to find Bigiriman guilty of contempt to court for publishing court documents and testimonies.

Bigirimana defended himself saying he never got information from court but from government documents and reports compiled by the Auditor General.

Bigirimana also argued in court that Kazinda could not be defamed because he was a convicted criminal.

“I am not the one responsible for the applicant’s conviction and sentence, neither do I take responsibility for his ongoing trial at the Anti-Corruption Court, thus he cannot use me as an avenue for enrichment in perpetuation of his ridiculous compensation claim of sh6b” Bigiriman said in his defense filings.

Somehow Kazinda had a change of heart and withdrew the case against Bigiriman but Justice Elizabeth Musoke awarded Bigiriman costs.

A certificate of taxation dated 12th February, 2017, indicated that Kazinda, who is in Luzira serving sentence for earlier convictions is required to pay to Bigirimana sh77,390,750.