State seeks to protect 42 witnesses in the Mumbere trial

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The prosecution have asked the International Crimes Division of the High Court to allow them file written submissions in the case in which they are seeking to protect 42 witnesses they want to rely on to try the Rwenzururu King Charles Wesley Mumbere on charges related to terrorism.

The request was made by State Attorney Lillian Omara when the matter in which Mumbere is accused together with more than 200 of his subjects came up for mention before the International Crimes Division-ICD Judge Alice Komuhangi.

Mumbere is facing 41 charges related to murder, terrorism, attempted murder, and aggravated robbery, allegedly committed in 2016.

But Omara told the court that the last time they appeared in this matter in Jinja in 2020, they made an application to protect 42 witnesses and it is an ex-parte application which the defense are not party to for security reasons and safety of the witnesses.

She thus asked court to allow the state to file written submissions in the case, adding that they already disclosed other pieces of evidence to Mumbere’s lawyers.

Omara further asked court to get for them an interpreter who speaks Lukhonzo (the language commonly used in Kasese) to enable the smooth running of the pretrial hearing since it is the best-understood language by the accused persons.

As a result, the Judge has directed the registrar to get the Lukhonzo interpretor and extended bail for the King up to August 26th 2022.

The Judge has also further remanded those who are still in various prisons across the country until then.

The lawyer representing the accused persons Alfred Makasi who is also the Attorney General of Rwenzururu Kingdom didn’t have any objections.

Makasi has however told Uganda Radio Network that negotiations with the Government and the Kingdom to have Mumbere return to his palace are still ongoing. He was however not comfortable disclosing so far the progress of these negotiations.

Mumbere was arrested on November 27th, 2016 together with 203 royal guards before being granted bail in 2017. But the kingdom lawyers say 10 of these accused persons have since passed on while in prison before getting justice.

In 2018, Mumbere was committed to the International Crimes Division of High Court in Kololo by Jinja High Court to face charges against him, shortly after being granted bail and his movements restricted within Kampala, Wakiso and Mukono districts.

The pretrial had previously stalled due to a staffing gap at the ICD to replace Justice Eva Luswata who was one of the Judges at that court and was handling the case, but has since been elevated to the Court of Appeal.

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