Mumbere asks court to allow him visit subjects in Kasese

By Hakim Kanyere

Rwenzururu king Charles Wesley Mumbere has asked the High Court in Jinja to allow him visit his home area in Kasese where he was barred by the same court.

Following the clashes between security and his royal guards, the Omusinga was consequently arrested and airlifted to Kampala before he was released on bail  in February last year.

However, among the stringent bail terms by Justice Micheal Elubu to Mumbere included restricting him from going to Kasese but only allowed in Jinja, Kampala and Wakiso districts of Uganda.

In an application filed through the kingdom Attorney General, Alfred Makasi, Mumbere has asked court to review his bail terms to allow him some freedom to visit his subjects.

“Kasese is now safe and he can return to the areas without any security problem,”Makasi told court on Monday.

In November 2016, security forces raided Mumbere’s place in Kasese town before overrunning it and on release on bail, court ordered that he should report to its deputy registrar in Jinja.

However, Mumbere’s  lawyer told court that in case he is allowed to go visit his home area and his subjects  in Kasese, he should  now be reporting to the deputy registrar of the court in Fort Portal or Kampala and not  Jinja because the latter is too far and inconveniencing to him.

In response, the state prosecutor Margaret Nakigudde asked court for more time to be able to file their response.

"I have instructions from the Director of Public Prosecutions indicating that he is still assessing the situation in the districts of Kasese, Kabarole and Bundibugyo to ensure that the applicant can be safe when he goes there" Nakigudde told court.

Justice  Elubu instructed the DPP to submit his defence by September 28 before adjourning the matter to October 2 for hearing the application.

Mumbere was charged with murder, terrorism, attempted murder and aggravated robbery among others.

The charges stemmed from the bloody clashes in his palace in Kasese on November 27 2016 when the police in a joint operation with the army stormed his palace in Kasese that led to the death of over 100 royal guards and police officers.