Dropping charges against iron sheets suspects reflects poorly on Judiciary

In her own words, DPP Jane Frances Abodo said she had arrived at that decision to drop the charges after thoroughly analysing what was tabled before her as proof against notable figures such as Speaker of Parliament Anita Among, Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja and Vice President Jessica Alupo. 

Prior to the DPP’s conclusion, doubtful Ugandans had already speculated that the trio, that occupy the helm of the national order of precedence, would not at any point be subjected to the humiliation that Karamoja minister Mary Goretti Kitutu, her deputy Agnes Nandutu and junior Finance minister Amos Lugoloobi endured.

Discontinuing the investigation is itself an indication that the NRM government condones corruption and will not on any day try its own political elite in the dock.

I was one of the people who perceived the arrests and trials of some ministers as mere rabble-rousing antics aimed at exciting the public and propel an impression that government is ready to use an iron fist on the corrupt.

In some countries such as China and other communist states where there is zero tolerance to corruption, implicated government officials are usually interdicted and forced to resign their positions. 

I am not sure how one can be subjected to a criminal trial when he or she is still a serving minister. 
By virtue of the political office held by the suspected government officials, chances are always high that the cases cannot reach a logical conclusion due to meddling and compromise. 

The courts under the NRM regime are sometimes used as coolants to diffuse public anger and delay a controversy. We’ve seen a series of scandals dying in courts and sometimes the punishments are themselves too minor as witnessed in the Alice Kaboyo case.

She was convicted by the Anti-Corruption Court in 2012 after pleading guilty to four of nine counts in the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (Gavi) case.

She was fined only Shs20m in a case that involved mismanagement of hundreds of millions of Shillings. Today she serves as a minister in the NRM government. 

Such judgements have themselves killed the trust the public once held in the Judiciary.
Quoting Kira Municipality MP Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda in one of the plenary sessions, he reiterated his disappointment in the fact that minister Lugoloobi was confidently addressing the House yet his release was premised on bail attributed to his ‘frail health’.

I can predict that at the end of the ongoing trial, none of the three ministers is going to be convicted on the said corruption charges.

Frank Bwambale is a journalist and political activist       

@BwambaleHon