President Yoweri Museveni has insisted that murderers and rapists should not be released on bail. Museveni said this during the memorial lecture of the late Justice Benedicto Kiwanuka.
Museveni’s remarks come few days after Makindye East MP Allan Ssewanyana was re-arrested after Masaka High Court granted him bail. Ssewanyana and his counterpart Kawempe North MP Muhammad Ssegirinya are accused of murder, terrorism, abetting and aiding terrorism and others.
“This issue of life imprisonment for people who have killed and the person you killed is not alive is not acceptable. It should be life for life,” Museveni said, adding the release of capital offenders a provocation.
Museveni said the people who killed Benedicto Kiwanuka and other people thought they were very smart. “I want to ask some of them who were in the previous governments. This is a good lesson to people in authority that sooner or later, you will be accountable,” he said.
Kiwanuka was killed by Amin’s forces on 22 September at Makindye Military Prison in a prolonged execution which, according to eyewitnesses, involved Kiwanuka ears, nose, lips, and arms being severed, a disemboweling, and castration before he was finally immolated.
The president said in the Constitutional Review Commission of Benjamin Odoki, the people didn’t want bail for certain crimes. “When Benjamin wrote a report, he recommended the judiciary to decide, but now, in no time, we are being told bail is a right.” During the event, Museveni launched a book on administration and delivering.
During the event, the Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo expressed his concern over the continuous torture of suspects, which he says waters down the legacy of the late Benedicto Kiwanuka who is being remembered for his stance for the rule of law.
He said Justice Kiwanuka’s commendable career was cut short because of his stance on the rule of law, human rights, and democracy for which he paid a big price.
“We can’t honor Benedicto Kiwanuka when people still travel 70 kilometers to seek justice. We can only say there is justice when a litigant files a case in January and receives justice in December of the same year,” the Chief Justice said.
In tandem, Dollo said Justice should not be monetized according it to the most bidders. “We have zero-tolerance for any form of corruption. The fight against real or perceived corruption should not be left to the judicial officials alone.” he added
