The Kawempe Chief Magistrate’s Court has further remanded ten National Unity Platform (NUP) supporters after declining to grant them bail on Friday.
The accused, who were arrested at the party’s headquarters at Makerere-Kavule, face charges of unlawful military drilling and conspiracy to commit a felony under Section 45 of the Penal Code Act.
The detainees including Bobi Wine’s body guard Edward Ssebuufu popularly known as Eddie Mutwe, NUP deputy spokesperson Alex Waiswa Mufumbiro, Saudah Madaada, Achileo Kivumbi, Bobi Giant, Dorren Kaija, and four other close aides to the NUP president.
Grade One Magistrate Damalie Agumaasiimwe, in her ruling, sided with the State, which objected to bail on grounds that the accused posed a flight risk, might interfere with investigations, and lacked substantial sureties.
State Prosecutor Sharon Sarah Nambuya further pointed to pending aggravated robbery charges against Mutwe and Kivumbi before the High Court in Masaka, insisting these heightened fears of absconding.
Defence lawyers, however, dismissed the State’s arguments as speculative, stressing that all the accused had verifiable sureties and fixed places of abode.
They reminded court that the offences are bailable and that the principle of presumption of innocence must be upheld.
Despite these arguments, the court maintained its position, leaving the group in custody for another three weeks.
Speaking shortly after the bail ruling, NUP spokesperson Joel Ssenyonyi criticised the court’s decision describing it as unjust and politically motivated.
“We vehemently disagree with the ruling of this court, because court is saying we are denying these folks bail, because one, even though a number of the sureties are substantial others, they are saying, No, they are slightly younger. I don’t know how that makes sense, even legally, because this country removed age limit for the top most office of the land, and they’re saying an 18 year old can be president of Uganda. How can you say that somebody who is 40 for example, cannot stand surety for someone who is 42 because the suspect is two years older than them,” he said.
“They know that whatever they’re doing is wrong, legally, politically and otherwise, and that’s why they are hiding in their offices without any you know, any viable reason, any quadrant reason they are given, because we have always been in court with them, but now they’ve locked themselves in their offices, and they’re coming on Zoom. It is persecution because these are political actors, and it has been the case for several others that they will find a reason to keep them in jail again,” he added.
