Besigye Demand for Mandatory Bail Declined by Nakawa Court

The Nakawa Chief magistrates court has declined to release  Jailed  PFF Leader Dr. Kiiza Besigye and  his aide Hajji Obeid Lutale on bail despite spending the mandatory 180 days on remand without trial.

This is because the presiding chief magistrate Christine Nantege has ruled that in line with the 2022 bail guidelines, she lacks powers to grant mandatory bail in capital offences as such power is now vested in the High Court. 

Now Besigye’s lawyers are asking for a transfer of the case file to the Highcourt inorder to hear the application for mandatory release, which  magistrate Nantege has declined to grant saying she did not make a pronunciation on whether the accused had clocked the mandatory 180 days on remand.

The Duo has been incarcerated in Luzira Prison since their arrest in Nairobi in November Last year.

The Defence team also seeks to halt the proceedings and have a  review of the Magistrate’s ruling  before the High Court regarding the legality, impropriety and correctness of the decision to deny bail.

The prosecution maintains this path is one of the many ways that this case against Dr. Besigye is not being heard expeditiously. 

This would be the second time that Besigye and Hajji Lutale are denied bail.

Prosecutors allege that the trio, while in Geneva in Switzerland, Athens in Greece, Nairobi, Kenya, and Kampala, solicited firearms, logistical, and financial support and attended meetings with the intention of overthrowing the Ugandan government.