The Lord Mayor of Kampala Erias Lukwago has questioned the criteria and the integrity court used while awarding cash bail against former Forum for Democratic Change president , Dr Kizza Besigye.
Speaking to journalists on Monday after high court ruling on the cash bail of Shs30m that was charged on Dr Besigye by Buganda Road Court grade one magistrate, Siena Owomugisha last week, Lukwago who also doubles as his lawyer said that if they don’t act quickly on the way court conducts its work, it will set a bad precedent which will affect many people in the future.
“Why Shs3m, why Shs30m for Dr Besigye that is the question we are asking. Of course, the court has got the power to ask for any amount of the money and we do appreciate what the court has decided because bringing from Shs30m to Shs3m, is a significant reduction and we would wish to recognize it. However it would have been much lower than that,” he said.
He added that the Shs3m cash bail condition reviewed by the judge is also intended to deter other people from expressing their right of demonstration.
“Court appropriately analyzed the facts of the matter with the law and said even if Dr Besigye was to be convicted on this case of incitement to violence, the maximum sentence will be three years or a fine of Shs1.4m. So the question we are asking is; if the fine is Shs1.4m, why should a bail amount be more than double the fine. But that is a prerogative of the court however we shall seat and analyze how we can push it further.”
Lukwago added, “When Dr Besigye get out, we are going to start with this because it’s a matter of trying to set another precedent, yes Dr Besigye can afford to pay three million shillings and indeed we are in process of paying that money and he gets out. But how about the other poor people who may be charged on the same ground with incitement of violence and they are ordinary citizens who don’t have that three million, so if we allow such precedents to be set that if you are charged with incitement of violence, bail is Shs3m, millions of Ugandan will be affected.”
It should be recalled that Dr Besigye was arrested on 24th May in downtown Kampala as he was mobilizing the public to protest against government’s decision of doing nothing about the escalating prices of fuel and essential commodities.
On 25th May, he was produced before Buganda Road Court grade one magistrate, Siena Owomugisha who charged him with incitement of violence before he was granted a cash bail of Shs30m,which Dr Besigye declined to pay and was remanded to Luzira Prison but later his lawyers filed an appeal against the bail condition.
While making his ruling on Monday, the High Court judge Michael Elubu alluded that since the offence of incitement to violence attracts a maximum sentence of three years in prison and a fine of Shs1.440 million, the cash bail condition cannot be set at Shs30million.
“The trial magistrate correctly stated that bail terms imposed should be a safeguard that once released on bail, the accused will return for his trial. That is as it should be. However, taking all circumstances of the case into consideration, it is my considered opinion that the learned trial magistrate exercised her discretion with a material irregularity when she set the bail condition at Shs30 million. This condition was manifestly harsh and excessive. It, therefore, occasioned a miscarriage of justice,” the judge said.
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