The Judiciary has denied allegations that the Chief Justice of Uganda Alfonse Owiny-Dollo had reached an agreement with President Yoweri Museveni to remove applications for bail.
In September this year, Museveni vowed to fight granting bail to capital offence suspects using both political and legal means.
According to Museveni, granting bail is a provocation that will not be accepted. He gave examples of people who were killed by mob justice in Arua and in Gomba, saying that when courts give bail on capital offences, societies become hopeless and start killing people who are charged with such crimes.
“For somebody to kill a person and you give them bail is provocation,” the president said. “It is abominable. I would like us to cure this ideological disagreement. This bail, what is the hurry? Who are you trying to please? Who said bail is a right? It is not in the constitution. We are going to work on this. I am going to summon the NRM caucus and if necessary, we put it to a referendum. With this provocation, people will take the law into their hands.”
And following Museveni’s intended move, there have been reports on social media alleging that the Judiciary headed by the Chief Justice had reached an agreement with the former to remove bail applications for capital offenders.
However the Judiciary Spokesperson Jamson Karemani says,“We would like to inform and reassure members of the public that no such position has been reached at all. The information circulating on social media should therefore be disregarded because it is false.”
“Whereas it is true that the Judiciary has been in the process of developing bail guidelines for all Courts, the process commenced long before the current public debate on bail started. It is important to note that the process is still ongoing with the next phase being consultation with various stakeholders in the justice system,” Karemani said in a statement on Friday.
The Judiciary mouthpiece further noted that the misleading social media posts claim that the proposed guidelines are meant to remove applications for bail, which is not the case.
” Article 133 (1) (b) of the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda, empowers the Chief Justice, as head of the Judiciary, to issue orders and directions to the Courts necessary for the proper and efficient administration of justice.”
According to Karemani, the real objectives of the new bail guidelines include among others; complementing the existing legal provisions on bail, promoting uniformity and consistency by Courts when considering bail Applications, streamlining and addressing the disparities in the handling of bail decisions with a view of enabling fair administration of bail measures.
Also to ensure that bail decision-making complies with the requirements of the Constitution, promoting the balancing of rights of accused persons with the public interest and the rights of victims.
To facilitate effective inter-agency cooperation and coordination in bail, to enhance conformity with the internationally agreed minimum standards for arrested persons held in detention and to promote transparency and efficiency in the management of bail deposits and refunds. He however noted that the removal of bail applications is not one of the objectives.
Do you have a story in your community or an opinion to share with us: Email us at editorial@watchdoguganda.com
