Ex-MP Kipoi denied bail

The High Court in Kampala on Monday declined to release former Bubulo West MP Tonny Nsubuga Kipoi on bail. He is accused of plotting to overthrow the government.

Justice Jane Francis Abodo dismissed Kipoi's bail application on the grounds that the High Court has no powers to grant bail to accused persons battling offences related to security.

"Bail is denied to the accused because he filed the bail application in a wrong court," she ruled.

Kipoi is battling charges related to security, alongside five soldiers at the General Court Martial (GCM) in Makindye.

The soldiers are Sgt Yunus Lemeriga, Cpl Rogers Mweru, Sgt Adams Mawa, Sgt Albino Okeng and Pte Dodola Ijosiga, all soldiers attached to the armoured brigade in Masaka district.

Kipoi is accused of recruiting people into rebel activities, with the aim of overthrowing the government. He is also accused of financing the Allied Democratic Front (ADF) rebel group.

Prosecution led by Maj. Raphael Mugisha also alleges that the accused and others still at large between November 2012 and December 2013 in diverse places of Kampala, Wakiso, Nakasongola, Fort Portal, Ntoroko and Masaka convened meetings to recruit soldiers to jeopardise the security of the country.

So far about five witnesses have testified against Kipoi and his co-accused at the army court.

In 2012, Kipoi was charged with treason and concealment of treason under Section 23 and 25 of the Penal Code Act (PCA) Cap 120.

However, on December 18, 2013, the Director of Public Prosecutions withdrew the charges and Justice Lameck Mukasa set him free.

Surprisingly, the DPP directed that Kipoi be charged before the army court in Makindye.

Subsequently, Kipoi was on February 3, 2018, arrested from Botswana on accusations of masquerading as a witch doctor and defrauding four female victims of more than 290,000 Pula, about (sh111.6m), and deported back to Uganda.

Kipoi has since filed a constitutional petition challenging the independence and impartiality of the GCM to try him at the Constitutional Court.

"Subjecting me to military law is illegal and unlawful," he argues.