Women MPs condemn release of Sharma Kooky

By Henry Sekanjako

Women MPs under the umbrella body Uganda Women Parliamentary Association (UWOPA) have condemned the release of Sharma Kooky, saying it was an injustice to the women of Uganda.

 Kooky was last week pardoned by President Museveni on humanitarian grounds after spending 12 years in Luzira Maximum Prison.

Sharma was sentenced to death by the High Court in 2000 after he was found guilty of torturing and killing his wife Renu Joshi.

 Addressing journalists at Parliament on Wednesday, the chairperson UWOPA Betty Amongi said pardoning Kooky showed a lack of commitment by government to fight domestic violence.

“We strongly condemn what president Museveni and his pardon committee did to release Kooky. We believe that what he did was bad and called for no pardon,” said the visibly angry Amongi.

Amongi noted that Kooky needed to serve his sentence to the fullest, adding that releasing him painted a bad picture against government as one that is in support of murder and domestic violence.

She added that they expect government to protect women by punishing all forms of injustice that tend to impact on women empowerment.

“We appeal to President Museveni to ensure that women are protected. He should be our protector because we expect him to fight violence against women. Murderers should not be pardoned.”

The MPs demanded that government comes up with a clear explanation stating why Kooky was pardoned, and argued that releasing him on humanitarian grounds was not satisfactory to the women of Uganda.

They also demanded that government considers deporting Kooky back to his country, saying he is a threat to Ugandan women.

“Government should either re-arrest this man or deport him. He is a bad example to the men in Uganda because they will end up doing the same thing and also ask for pardon,” said Connie Ggaliwango (Mbale district).

The women advised President Museveni to reconsider his position.

Their stand is, the President must have been misled by the Presidential Committee on Pardon to have Kooky forgiven and set free.

“I know this decision was done in error. The release of Kooky was a miscalculated move on the side of President Museveni,” said Margaret Kiboijana (Ibanda district).