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Kayihura won't go to court - Odongo

Internal affairs minister Jeje Odongo says its not proper for the IGP to be prosecuted

By JOSEPH KATO

IN SUMMARY

Too big. Internal Affairs state minister says prosecuting the IGP is tantamount to prosecuting the State. 

KAMPALA. 

The Minister of Internal Affairs, Gen Jeje Odongo, yesterday announced that Inspector General of Police Gen Kale Kayihura will not appear in court to answer criminal charges of torture brought against him by private lawyers.

Gen Odongo said Kayihura's prosecution would amount to prosecuting the government. "The question is, will he being charged as an individual or as an institution? I think we need to make this distinction very clear: General Kale Kayihura is the Inspector General of Police. The Inspector General of Police is an institution. Therefore to isolate him as an individual is not correct."
"Because what we are talking about is a gentleman performing his constitutional duties. Therefore, we would be talking about General Kale Kayihura, the institution, and not General Kale Kayihura the individual. I want us to make that very clear. Therefore, when you are talking about going to court, it is the institution and not the individual," Odongo told journalists at the government-run Uganda Media Centre.

Gen Odongo, under whose ministry the police falls, said Kayihura has been institutionalised to represent the Uganda Police Force and by extension the government.

Gen Kayihura and seven of his senior officers and commanders were sued for alleged torture as individuals by victims of the July 12 and 13 police beatings of civilians at Kalerwe Market and Busabala Road on Entebbe Road.

The indicted senior police officers are: James Ruhweza, who heads operations in Kampala Metropolitan; Andrew Kagwa, the regional police commander for Kampala East, and Field Force Unit commander for Kampala Metropolitan Police, Samuel Bamuzibire, Geoffrey Kahebwa the Kampala North deputy regional police commander, and the Aaron Baguma, former the divisional police commander for Kampala Central police station.

The private lawyers who initiated the prosecution insist that they sued the IGP and the police officers in their individual capacities. The lawyers say they would have instituted the case against and through the Attorney General's office if they wanted to sue the police as an institution.

A total of 20 lawyers led by Mr Abdullah Kiwanuka from Lukwago & Co Advocates are part of the Network for Public Interest Lawyers (NETPIL) who are prosecuting Gen Kayihura by way of private prosecution.

Gen Kayihura was expected to appear in Makindye Chief Magistrate's Court on Wednesday last week to answer the charges of torture but did not show up.

The pro-Kayihura rioters raided the court and laid siege on the premises protesting his prosecution and the private prosecutors had to be evacuated by police as the mob charged at them.

Later Chief Justice Bart Katureebe and Uganda Law Society President Francis Gimara condemned the raid on the court. The Chief Justice said the raid was unacceptable and called on police to protect judges and magistrates while they carry out their judicial duties.

Commenting on Kayihura's failed appearance in court last week, Mr Erasmus Twaruhukwa, the police Director for Human Rights and Legal Services, told the media that his boss did not appear because he had not been served with the summons.

Mr Daniel Walyemera, one of the private prosecutors, maintains that Gen Kayihura was sued in an individual capacity and if convicted, he is supposed to compensate the torture victims using his personal resources.

He said they drafted the case against Kayihura and his officers to appear in court in their individual capacity. "We want him to compensate the torture victims as an individual," Mr Walyemera said.
Ms Cissy Kagaba, the executive director of Anti-Corruption Coalition Uganda (ACCU), said the Judiciary is at test. "The Judiciary needs to stand out. It should critically look at the issues raised by the prosecutors and government and give an independent ruling," Ms Kagaba said.

Gen Odongo yesterday said the government was looking at all the violent incidents that have been happening at courts of law and establish what could be done to avoid recurrence.

"It is important for us to recognize that whereas we condemn are now only talking about the Makindye incident, there have been similar incidents of demonstrations around courts earlier than that one. We are going to establish what the government will do to prevent such incidents from happening again," Gen Odongo said.

The law

The charges were instituted under sections 4, 7, 8, 9 and 10 of the Prevention and Prohibition of Torture Act of 2012. Under this Act, public officials can be held individually liable for acts of torture they commit while holding their offices. The law also says a person who in superior command can be individually held accountable for acts of torture if he or she encourages, helps or orders a person to torture somebody.