The Mwanga II Magistrates Court has ordered several government bodies and institutions to release the bio-data of Ssentongo Reagan, one of the nine youths accused of fabricating evidence against Pastor Robert Kayanja of Lubaga Miracle Centre Cathedral.
The directive has been issued by Grade One Magistrate Adams Byarugaba after chief state Attorney Jonathan Muwaganya has argued that the information sought us essential for cross-examining Ssentongo; whose testimony last month introduced conflicting details about his age and school history.
Ssentongo while under oath told court that he first encountered Pastor Kayanja at the age of 13 while in Primary Six at Kyaggwe Road Primary School, a claim the prosecution seeks to challenge with the would be obtained data from the National Identification Registration Authority ( NIRA) and Uganda Prisons where Ssentongo is being held.
However the court has had to stall hearing of further defence statements from Ssentongo today awaiting an expert report involving the images and videos on his phone .
After suspending the proceedings , chief State Attorney Muwaganya asked court to issue four orders—directing NIRA to retrieve Ssentongo’s bio-data; ordering the Officer-in-Charge of Murchison Bay Prison to submit his admission detail, compelling the headteacher of Kyaggwe Road Primary School to verify whether Ssentongo was ever a pupil; and requiring UNEB to confirm if he ever sat for PLE or if Lubaga Miracle Centre Cathedral has ever hosted an examination centre.
Defence lawyers objected, insisting there was no justification for releasing Ssentongo’s confidential data without proper safeguards arguing that the prosecution had not laid any background to justify the request and that accessing private data from NIRA and Uganda Prisons posed risks to the accused.
However, Muwaganya maintained that the information was held by public institutions and was necessary to test Ssentongo’s credibility adding he had clear instructions indicating that Ssentongo may have lied about his age.
In his ruling, Magistrate Byarugaba held that accessing the data would not be injurious to Ssentongo since such information is already kept by public bodies. He therefore granted all orders sought .
The case returns to court on December 17.
