By Kamugisha OBED
As crime levels continue to skyrocket in the country, several security and legal experts are pondering on changing the legal system in Uganda to be able to curb the social problem of granting bail to suspects involved capital offenses. Capital offenses include homicide, rape, and robbery among others. This debate has dragged in President Yoweri Museveni who argues that suspects of murder, aggravated rape and robbery involving guns and acid attackers should be kept in jail for a period not less than six months before any form of bail application is entertained in the courts of law.
According to the 1995 Uganda Constitution, Court bail is the right of an accused person where he /she is “…released from the custody of officers to the law on his /her giving of sufficient security for his /her appearance in court or on accepting certain specified conditions of court”[1]. Well as the accused has the right to apply for bail, it is a judicial act at the discretion of court to grant it. The effect of bail is merely to release the accused from physical custody while he remains under the jurisdiction of the law and is bound to appear at the appointed pale and time to answer the charges against him or her. The granting of bail is based upon the presumption of innocence until proven guilty as provided for under Article 28 (3)(a) of the constitution of Uganda .As justice Amos Twinomujuni (RIP) once stated; “The idea is that a person presumed to be innocent and who is entitled to a speedy trial should not be kept behind bars for unnecessary long before trial.[3]” .
However, hot debates have since emerged with sections of the population especially the super elites objecting to the proposal reasoning that bail is constitutional rights and that it is alienable. The majority rural population seems to be in full support of the president because in their view bail remains a privilege of the rich elites of Uganda who use their financial power to commit crimes and walk away from punishment because they can secure bail and after influence the course of justice.
This has compounded the challenge of combating capital offences especially murder, rape, defilement and robbery for as long as these criminals know that getting bail remains cheap and tenable. When these criminals are released on bail they tend to threaten those that would be witnesses or those that might want to volunteer very useful information regarding the offence these suspected criminals might committed. Indeed that is tampering with the due process of the law.
“They should not give bail to such people because when they are given bail they come back to committee more crimes and go on to bury the evidence,” Nanteza Sarah Kyobe a media practitioner with Uganda Media Centre. At times they offer inducements to key witnesses not to avail themselves during trial which in the end lead to the presiding Judge or Magistrates to suspend the case, the alleged criminals walk free again.
However, owing to the ever growing criminal culture in Uganda, there is an urgent need to change the law. This however, requires a constitutional amendment meaning the parliament is the only mandated institution to change this law. Currently, government of Uganda is in the process of sending to parliament several constitutional amendments alongside the urgent electoral reform bill and the issue of not giving bail to suspected capital offenders is one of them.
Otherwise the level of criminality has reached alarming levels. If one wants to know how bad things are, one needs to tune in to Media houses like Bukedde TV, NTV, Bukedde Newspaper and the Red Pepper. Unless, government moves in quickly to change the law things seem to be getting out of hand as it stands.
Sometime back the Inspector General of Police Gen Kale Kayihura wrote a big missive in the papers urging Ugandans to think of reverting to the French legal system where a suspect is guilty until proven innocent. This he argued would keep suspects in coolers until courts of law find them innocent or guilty.
High level engagement of the society and the Law Society should begin such that they reach a consensus on the way forward. This is largely to bring on board all those that are still skeptical about the changing of the law. This indeed can only can successful if issues of human rights are catered for in the proposed new law .
“Framers of the proposed new law to deny capital offenders bail should be well thought after. Much as the intention sounds good , the new law should not be designed in a such way that some people will use to frame other to have them arrested and suffer incarceration for long time when they are innocent”, Commented Ken Bugembe an IT expert.
Moses Kitunzi, a procurement expert had a different thought all together. “Bail is a constitutional right; let government not tamper with it. Besides, under the commonwealth law which is the very rule that govern us, any suspect is innocent until proven guilty,” he said.
High level consultation on the rest of the country should begin such that all are in harmony about the change of the law. Indeed it is this laxity on bail that had led to the general increase in mob justice. People are resorting to taking law in their hands because they have lost faith in our Court systems. People are resorting to burning suspects which is in itself a very dangerous thing.
When a country resorts to mob justice society can only be prepared for the worst.
This has compounded the challenge of combating capital offences especially murder, rape, defilement and robbery for as long as these criminals know that getting bail remains cheap and tenable. Another challenge is that when these suspects are out on bail, they threaten the would be witnesses or those that might want to volunteer very useful information regarding the offence these suspected criminals might have committed. At times they offer inducements to key witnesses not to avail themselves during trial which in the end lead to the presiding Judge or Magistrates to suspend the case; the alleged criminals walk free again.
However, owing to the ever growing criminal culture in Uganda, there is an urgent need to change the law. Otherwise the level of criminality has reached alarming levels. If one wants to know how bad things are, one needs to tune in to media houses like Bukedde TV, Nation Television, Bukedde Newspaper and the Red Pepper.
Unless government moves in quickly to change the law, things seem to be getting out of hand as it stands and people are resorting to unorthodox way of getting justice.
High level engagement of the society and the Uganda Law Society should begin such that they reach a consensus on the way forward. High level consultation across the country should begin such that all are in harmony about the change of the law.
Indeed, it is this laxity on bail that has led to increase in mob justice. People are resorting to taking law in their hands because they have lost faith in our court systems. People are resorting to burning suspects alive which is in itself a very dangerous thing. When a country resorts to mob justice society can only be prepared for the worst.
The Authour is an MA student at the department of Journalism and Communication
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