Uncertainty as NUP supporters remain in detention despite being granted bail

Masaka, Uganda |  THE INDEPENDENT | The release of National Unity Platform-NUP supporters who were arrested in Kalangala remains uncertain.  The NUP supporters were arrested last month in Kalangala district during the campaigns of Presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu.

On Monday, the suspects were presented before Masaka Chief Magistrate and Grade One Magistrates courts that granted them cash bail ranging between 100,000 to 200,000 Shillings.  

However, they are yet to be set free as the prison authorities continue to keep them in detention despite meeting the bail conditions.

The suspects are being held at Ssaza-Masaka Prisons where they were taken after their lawyers had not completed filling court documents by close of court on Monday. 

Magellan Kazibwe, the suspects’ lawyer says that despite meeting all the requirements for the release of the suspects, the prison authorities continue keeping them in detention.

He accuses the prison authorities in Masaka for hiding behind ambiguous procedures to violate court orders and continue to illegally detain the suspects. 

Kazibwe explains that while they obtained a court order instructing the prison authorities to produce the suspects before the court on Wednesday, the in-charge of the Prison Joseph Kidega claimed that he did not have enough security personnel to escort the suspects to court. 

Kidega, when contacted said they notified higher authorities in Kampala about the need to have security back-up to escort the suspects to court, and that they are still waiting on their response.  

The detained suspects are facing charges of causing incitement to violence, participating in acts likely to lead to the spread of Covid-19, obstructing and assaulting police officers on duty, offences they allegedly committed while Kyagulanyi was campaigning in Kalangala and Kyotera districts late last year.

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