High Court has for the second time dismissed City businessman Francis Onebe’s bail application. Onebe is accused of killing his wife Immaculate Asio Onebe.
The 62-year-old proprietor of a security firm, whose body was retrieved from a septic tank at their residence in Munyonyo, went missing in January 2021.
Appearing before Justice Michael Elubu, his application was dismissed on grounds that although Onebe is of old age with t hypertension it is not enough for the court to release him on bail.
“Justice can only be served when the suspect is brought to trial expeditiously,” Elubu ruled.
Onebe was arrested after police established his intentions to flee the country. But upon arrest, Onebe said he was traveling for treatment, and his earlier reasons to travel to Nairobi also indicated appointments with doctors.
The arrest also followed the nabbing of a former security guard of Onebe who sneaked into the home. It is averred that the guard identified as Okariot disappeared moments after Onebe’s wife went missing.
On November 19, 2021, through his lawyers led by Moses Ingura, Onebe applied for bail on grounds that he is suffering from chronic prostate cancer, and high blood pressure saying they are ailments associated with advanced age. He is 63 years old.
Onebe said he is a man with a number of responsibilities including being an executive director of companies such as Pentagon Security Limited which employs more than 2,000 Ugandan citizens and being a managing partner of Price and King, an audit firm employing more than 30 people.
Onebe who also said he is the non-Executive Director Board Member of Post Bank Uganda added that his services are highly required for the survival of the said companies and he cannot render them while in prison.
He also presented his sister Dr. Jennifer Rose Aduwo, the Dean of the School of Distance Learning and Information Technology at Uganda Management Institute, his Price and King Audit Managing Partner Robert Mukasa, village mates Pascal Achelu and John Francis Olume Igwoko as his sureties such that he can be granted bail.
