Ssewanyana, Ssegirinya, bail application moved  to February

Jailed legislators Allan Ssewanyana and Muhammad Ssegirinya will have to wait until next month to find out the fate of their bail application.

The decision was announced by the  Masaka High Court.

The hearing of a bail application failed to kick off on Tuesday as scheduled after prosecution led by Richard Birivumbuka informed court that they were not ready to proceed and asked for another date.

The trial judge Lawrence Tweyanz adjourned the case to February 13 and 14, 2023 for hearing of the said application.

Tweyanze also ordered for Ssewanyana who is currently admitted at Mulago Hospital to be allowed access to specialized treatment following his lawyer's plea for his health to be prioritised.

Earlier, the judge had inquired if the parties were ready to proceed with the trial of the case, to which prosecution stated that it is unable to bear the burden of handling the cases in both Kampala and Masaka involving the same suspects and witnesses at the same time, as such requested to expedite the case in Kampala before embarking on the trial of the Masaka cases.

The lawyer for the accused Erias Lukwago described the new prosecution position as very baffling since it’s against their earlier stance in which they vehemently opposed handling both matters at ago. 

Lukwago said that he will proceed to extract orders to enable Ssewanyana access to specialised treatment pending consideration of the bail application.

Lukwago, who on Monday was able to visit Ssewanyana, said his condition is worrying and he needs more capable medical care than he is receiving at the moment.

The duo was arrested on September 7, 2021 alongside seven others in connection with the machete killings in Lwengo and Masaka districts. They were later granted bail on 21 September, but the two MPs were re-arrested from the outskirts of Kigo prisons, and fresh murder charges were preferred against them.

They applied for bail but on October 25, Masaka High Court Judge Lawrence Tweyanze denied them bail on grounds that they are accused of a string of capital offences that all attract a maximum of the death penalty and that the MPs could flee from justice given their position in society as lawmakers, they would interfere with the trial process.

Dissatisfied with the decision, they appeared in the Court of Appeal raising seven grounds.

Through their lawyers, the embattled MPs told court that bail is a constitutional right and that their clients had been kidnapped by unknown people only to be dumped in Kigo prison.

According to lawyers, if the High Court Judge had considered this and the fact that bail had been granted prior to the re-arrest, he should have ordered their release so that they can gain temporary freedom.

Ssewanyana together with Kawempe North MP Muhammad Ssegirinya have spent more than a year in jail.