Buganda Road Chief Magistrates’ Court has ordered the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions to summon witnesses in the case in which former presidential candidate Dr Kizza Besigye is battling charges of inciting violence.  

Besigye is battling the charges with his fellow politician Samuel Walter Lubega.  

The accused persons are battling a charge of inciting violence. The offence of incitement to violence attracts a maximum punishment of three years imprisonment on conviction.  

On Thursday, January 25, when the case came up for further hearing before Grade One Magistrate Winnie Nankya, State Attorney Allan Mucunguzi told the court that he did not have witnesses.  

“Your Worship, the witnesses in this matter are Police officers who are on special duties and they are unable to appear in court and testify,” he told the court.    

Muchunguzi asked the court to grant him an adjournment of three weeks.  

However, Besigye’s lawyer Erias Lukwago opposed the application for an adjournment stating that there is a tendency in the criminal justice system by prosecution to appear in court and say they are seeking adjournments without substantial grounds.  

In reply, the state told the court that the witnesses had been deployed to help secure the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and G77 conferences.  

The magistrate ruled that this case has become part of the backlog in the court system and gave the prosecution one final adjournment to summon their witnesses or else the court will be forced to close the case.  

She also directed the prosecution to serve and file an affidavit to show proof of service.  

The case has been adjourned to February 14, 2024.  

Background  

The charges against the duo stem from an assembly which they allegedly carried out in the Kampala city centre on June 14, 2022, where they were protesting the surge in prices of essential commodities such as sugar, bread, cooking oil, soap, and fuel, among others. The protest, the prosecution argues, was unlawful.  

Superintendent of Police David Nahamya, prosecution witness number one, informed the court that the demonstration was meant to incite members of the public to demonstrate, which was likely to result in violence and destruction of property.  

Nahamya said Besigye was speaking in Luganda calling members of the public to wake up and join hands to save the country, and that it was at this point that he arrested them.  

“I tried to talk to Besigye, but he was not giving me an audience and I informed the commander at CPS (Central Police Station) Kampala that they had locked themselves inside the vehicle and they sent a courier which towed the vehicle to CPS,” Nahamya told the court. 

Last year, the same court presided over by Grade One Magistrate Siena Owomugisha dismissed similar charges against Besigye for want of prosecution.