Aya Group Boss Mohammed cleared of sexual abuse charges
Aya Group Chairman Mr. Mohammed Hamid Mohammed has been cleared of sexually abusing his former employee Jamila Opondo, we can confirm. The Director of Public Prosecution says that evidence they received was not enough to support the charges.
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has closed the case of sexual assault against the Aya Group chairman, Mr Mohammed Hamid Mohammed, due to lack of sufficient evidence to support the charges.
The DPP has also closed the case on physical assault against the businessman for same reasons.
Mr Hamid had been accused of sexually abusing his former female employee Jamila Opondo and assaulting her at his Hilton Hotel in Kampala about a year ago.
“The sexual harassment case was closed by this office and the file returned to the police. The complainant [Ms Opondo] was called and briefed about it and the reasons why we could not take the matter to court,” Ms Jane Okuo Kajuga, the DPP spokesperson, said on Monday.
“The evidence we got as we investigated this matter was not reliable. There were so many inconsistencies with different accounts of events. For sexual assault charges, considering the time span, it was very difficult to verify the allegations that the Aya boss sexually harassed her in his office. No evidence was there to corroborate her allegations,” Ms Okuo added.
The withdrawal of the charges means Mr Hamid is now a free man unless fresh evidence is brought forth to pin him. “In fact, in some allegations, the police found evidence that was directly contrary to what the complainant told us. For example, where she stated that she was assaulted physically by Mr Hamid, the witnesses who were there, gave contrary evidence,” Ms Okuo further said.
The two case files originated from Old Kampala Police Station and Kampala Central Police Station (CPS) before they were transferred to Kibuli for further action.
Mr Hamid had denied the allegations and said it was a scheme by Ms Opondo to extort money from him.