{UAH} Murderers should face death, Museveni tells Chief Justice

Folks;

President Museveni has every right to express his desired outcome in murder cases. But Judges should not heed his wishes. Murder cases come in several flavors, that's why the law provides for varying degrees of murder.

Museveni recommends that the Uganda Judiciary should operate with the same Kangaroo Court mindset that he employed in the bush. 

He even cites a case where two drunken rebels killed some villagers, and Jim Muhwezi, acting as their defense lawyer, arguing that the alleged offense was committed under the influence of alcohol.

That defense was legitimate, under the diminished responsibility provisions of criminal justice: the defendants were not in their normal mental state to fully understand the consequences of their actions. 

Pojim

Murderers should face death, Museveni tells Chief Justice

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 9 2020

    

President Museveni having a photo moment with Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo (left) and his deputy Justice Richard Butera after the swearing in ceremony at State House in Entebbe on Tuesday. PHOTO | PPU 

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BY ANTHONY WESAKA & ARTHUR WADERO
President Museveni has urged the new Chief Justice, Alfonse Owiny-Dollo, and his deputy Richard Buteera to ensure convicted murderers are sentenced to death without an option of alternative sentences.
The President, who said he believes in the Moses law of an 'eye for an eye' and a 'tooth' for a 'tooth', wondered why someone who has been found guilty of killing another is sentenced to life imprisonment and not hanging.
Mr Museveni made the call during the swearing-in of the two top heads of the Judiciary at State House, Entebbe yesterday.
"Therefore, my appeal, which I have been doing whenever I get the chance to talk to the Judiciary is to bring the concept of justice closer to the popular view which is the Law of Moses because for them, it's an eye for an eye. I don't believe that you should give an ear for an eye," the President said.
"If they remove the eye, yours must also be removed. If you cut my ear, yours must also be cut so that it is equal. But a sentence for life for somebody who has killed people, I don't support that. Let him (murder convict) be first arraigned to be hanged and then we can see even if he is forgiven later," Mr Museveni added.
The last death sentence was in 2009 in a case involving Susan Kigula, a murder convict.
Kigula was sentenced to death by hanging for murdering her partner but she later challenged it, resulting in changes to Ugandan law regarding the death penalty. Death sentence is no longer mandatory. Judges sentence criminals to death only in the 'rarest of the rare' cases.
The sentence is now dependent on the discretion of the judges.
Most sentences on these grave offences now vary from life imprisonment to a dozen years in jail.
Mr Museveni also told the Judiciary leadership about the rush to grant bail to criminal suspects or police giving bond to accused persons on serious or capital offences, saying it was undermining the administration of justice.
He asked Chief Justice Owiny-Dollo and his deputy not to give bail to suspects on serious and capital offences such as rape, murder or defilement.
"This concept of police bond is discrediting our justice system. They (locals) will say what is bail or bond for because for them, the dog that steals, must pay with its back. They don't understand the concept of saying that somebody can do wrong then he comes back, then later, he is tried. It is really discrediting," Mr Museveni said.
The President said during his Bush War days , he ordered the execution of some fighters who shot and killed some villagers in Semuto Village (Nakaseke).
"This is our concept and what the NRA understood and did in the bush. Our soldiers, a boy called Zaburoni and another one, got drunk and killed three villagers in Semuto . So we arrested them and we tried them," Mr Museveni said. "At that time, we had a lawyer who had not practised but he qualified in law at Makerere. This was Jim Muhwezi. So when we came to try them, he said that 'you people, you need to be very careful, what killed these people was not Zaburoni but the beer which was inside them'. But we said, 'Jim, where do we find the beer now?"
"I can tell, if we had mishandled that case, that would have been the end of the NRA. So it was a turning point as we still had people like [Andrew] Kayiira who were pushing tribal sentiments so we said no, we cannot, these people must be executed in public in Semuto," he added.

Judiciary's request
In his maiden speech, the Chief Justice called upon the Executive to appoint more judges if he is to achieve effective administration of justice in the country.
"If I had 15 judges in the Commercial Court, in 18 months I should be able to report to your Excellency, what we have done but we don't have that manpower," Chief Justice Owiny-Dollo said.
"Your Excellency, you can imagine what these Shs2 to Shs3 trillion (the worth of the disputes pending in the Commercial Court) would do to the economy of Uganda. Why are they tied there? Because I have only two judges to untie the Shs3 trillion. That is the difficulty we have. So mine is to appeal to you and the Executive to kindly pay more attention to enable Ugandans receive timely and meaningful justice," he added.
Justice Owiny-Dollo also promised President Museveni that if he had enough judicial officers, a case would be filed in January and by December 31 the same year, it would have been disposed of.
On average, a case takes about three years to be disposed of.
Last month, Mr Museveni appointed Chief Justice Owiny-Dollo, replacing Bart Katureebe, who had retired in June 20 upon clocking 70 years.
The President also appointed Justice Buteera as deputy Chief Justice.
Owiny-Dollo now becomes the 13th Chief Justice since 1962 when Uganda attained independence.