{UAH} Allan/Pojim/WBK: Preacher Sejusa decries Luzira toilets

http://www.observer.ug/news-headlines/42496-preacher-sejusa-decries-luzira-toilets

Preacher Sejusa decries Luzira toilets

Written by Siraje Lubwama

Created: 08 February 2016

Gen David Sejusa

Lawyers looking for generals to stand surety for him

Incarcerated General David Sejusa is revered and loved in Luzira Upper prison but he says life there is harsher than the dungeon cell he was first locked up in at Makindye military barracks.

Sejusa was arrested on January 31 and detained in Makindye. On February 2, he was charged with six counts ranging from participating in political party activities, insubordinate behavior, conduct prejudicial to good order and discipline of the Uganda People's Defense Forces (UPDF) Act 2005. He was later remanded to Luzira prison by the General Court Martial (GCM).

But in interview on February 5 in the prison's visiting room, Sejusa, clad in a yellow prison uniform with black stripes, said he is treated like any other inmate without special privileges.

"The only few privileges I am getting are from fellow inmates who treat me and refer to me as their president. Some have volunteered to cook and iron for me, including preparing my beddings while about 100 UPDF detainees here, some of whom I trained, refer to me as Afande," said a jovial Sejusa.

The general said he is comforted by some inmates who have spent some long years in Luzira. He has since joined a group of these long-serving prisoners, who are preachers. Sejusa, a Born-again Mulokole, is now preaching in prison.

He said he shares a cell with three other inmates and is identified by the number he was given by prison authorities the day he was remanded.
Sejusa said he contracted malaria on arrival in prison, which has since been treated. He said warders and fellow inmates are nice to him.

"The major unbearable condition I'm undergoing stems from my right leg which was shot during the bush war, since then I cannot squat on the toilet. Even in the bush, I used special toilets; so, it is hell using toilets here in prison," he said.

Sejusa is also concerned that his two military guards arrested and detained on the same day with him have never been produced in court. He said there are three others arrested two weeks before him. The three, he said, include; Abdu Nakalali, Allan Kitonsa (detained in Kireka) and Rose Nakato detained at Jinja Road police station.

Sejusa also said that the phrase 'a suspect is presumed innocent until proven guilty' contradicts his detention before conviction. He said his freedom, which has been taken away cannot be compensated in the event he is found innocent. 
BAIL APPLICATION

Meanwhile, Sejusa's lawyers have filed a bail application in the GCM, which will be heard tomorrow (Tuesday). He partly argues that all the six counts against him are bailable.

"I am of advanced age and cannot handle the harsh conditions at 61, I am the sole breadwinner for my family; I have children attending both university and high school that depend on my support.

I have never been arrested, charged, convicted of any crime in my entire life," Sejusa said in his affidavit sworn from prison on February 4.

Though he said he has substantial sureties, by Friday evening, his family had only got one surety, Gen Elly Tumwine.

"The problem in army courts is that the sureties must be of the same rank like the accused. There are only eight such generals yet the positions of President

Museveni, Katumba Wamala [chief of defense forces] and Kale Kayihura [police chief] cannot not allow them to stand surety; they are also like complainants. Some of the other generals save for Moses Ali fear [to come forward]. They say the case is political," one family member said on Friday. Sejusa needs at least three sureties.

Sejusa's lead lawyer Dr David Mushabe said: "Some of the serving generals we have approached so far [to stand surety] fear and don't want to be misunderstood by the president." 

In the prison interview, he said whether he is released on bail or not, he has instructed his legal team not to challenge the membership of the GCM chaired by Maj Gen Levi Karuhanga, an officer two ranks below him. According to Sejusa, it is unconstitutional and illegal for a junior officer to preside over his case, a senior officer.

"Those technicalities will delay my trial yet the court has a backlog of cases," he said.

"My intention is to expose to the world that the charges against me were defective from inception, the world will be watching Museveni's government exposing itself in this case."

In 1995, Sejusa's application to be discharged from the army was blocked. He challenged that decision until he lost in the Supreme court in 1997.

"Since then, about 30,000 soldiers have been discharged, including 12 generals. I insist that the Museveni I helped bring to power is punishing me because of my straight talk about his government's performance," Sejusa said.
slubwama@observer.ug

Preacher Sejusa decries Luzira toilets

http://www.observer.ug/news-headlines/42496-preacher-sejusa-decries-luzira-toilets

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