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State given 20 days to declare date to commit Ssegirinya, Ssewanyana for trial
Kawempe North MP Muhammad Ssegirinya and Makindye West MP, Allan Ssewanyana appearing before court on February 2, 2022. PHOTO/ GERTRUDE MUTYABA
Masaka Grade one magistrate, Christine Nantege, has given the state 20 days to tell court when remanded opposition MPs, Allan Ssewanyana (Makindye West MP) and Muhammad Ssegirinya (Kawempe North) will be committed to High Court for trial.
This was after Mr Ssegirinya told court on Wednesday that he suffered liver complications before he was arrested but he currently has no access to his drugs which he would pick from Nairobi hospital in Kenya.
“Your worship, my blood pressure is abnormally high. As you may be aware, I have been suffering liver complications but I no longer have the drugs to treat it. I used to pick the drugs from Nairobi hospital but ever since I was arrested and remanded, I have never had a chance to replenish my supplies. I’m even told my mother is in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) but she cannot access the medicines she needs because I’m the only one who would travel to Nairobi to replenish her supplies,” he said before asking why the state prosecutor “has made it a habit to ask for adjournments” on grounds that police are still investigating the case.
“Why has the state made it a habit to ask for adjournments as we suffer in jail? Is it because he wants us to spend six mandatory months on remand?” he asked.
The two MPs were first remanded to prison on September 7, 2021 on murder, attempted murder and aiding and abetting terrorism over last year’s spate of killings in Greater Masaka that left nearly 30 people dead.
Weeks later, they successfully applied for bail but were violently re-arrested outside the prisons gate and charged with a fresh offence of murder of one Joseph Bwanika, a resident of Kisekka B, Kankamba Parish in Lwengo District.
Prosecution then told court that they committed the offence on August 2, 2021 before the magistrate subsequently sent them back on remand.
Mr Ssegirinya further told the magistrate on Wednesday that Kigo prisons authorities continue to subject them to torture in total disregard of several court orders.
He said he and his colleague, Ssewanyana are not allowed to receive any guests, including their lawyers and family members, in prisons on grounds that it’s under the excuse of Covid-19.
“How can they say they are protecting the inmates from catching Covid-19 from their guests when the president recently opened the economy and allowed music concerts and bars to operate? Other inmates now think Allan and I are the reason they can’t receive guests,” Ssegirinya wondered.
He said he has several vulnerable school going children who had been depending on him for school fees and tuition before schools were closed during the Covid-19 induced lockdown.
“I used to give them bursaries. Schools were reopened last month but those kids are still seated home because the person who used to support them is n prison,” he said.
In his remarks, Mr Ssewanyana said at the time of his arrest and remand his two children were sick.
“I have not been able to get any update on their wellbeing. I still wonder why prison authorities continue to torture us even after court issued several orders against it,” he said.
However, state prosecutor, Mr Richard Birivumbuka, told court that when he asked prison authorities about the torture allegations they denied.
"After last court sitting, I personally contacted a prison officer in charge of the legislators and asked him why they torture them but he said there is nothing like torture at Kigo prison," Mr Birivumbuka told court.
In her ruling, the magistrate said prison authorities must stop torturing the legislators and also ordered that their rights are respected.
"The prosecution has a duty to expedite the committal process and in that respect, the state should communicate the date considering that the accused persons are almost clocking their mandatory period. The accused have a right to access their lawyers and relatives while in prison. The prison authorities should ensure they access their lawyers so that their counsel can ably represent them in court,” magistrate Christine Nantege ruled before adjourning the case to February 22.
