Mande Bailed

By Anne Mugisa THE military court yesterday released terrorism suspects Lt. Col. Samson Mande and Capt. Masembe Kabali, rearrested about two weeks ago on allegations that they jumped bail. But the court ordered that their trial begins on February 26. They were ordered to report to the court registry every Tuesday and their movements restricted to Kampala. The two are also to produce fresh sureties on Wednesday. The seven-member coram is headed by Lt. Col. Joram Kakari. The other members are Majors Alfred Mureeba, Herbert Mulombe, David Wakalo, Capt. Alex Ndyanabo, Lt. George Mawa and WOI Alfred Arinaitwe. Mande and Kabali were held at Makindye Military Police barracks. The Army prosecutor, Capt. Richard Zziwa, and Mande's defence lawyers, Patrick Nyakaana, battled over the accused's bail and whether he should take plea again. The court ruled after a two-hour adjournment, that they were not convinced the two officers jumped bail. It also ruled that their re-arrest was illegal and turned down the prosecution's application to cancel the bail which was granted in 1997. "This court is not convinced the accused jumped bail. There is a big loophole in records keeping. The bail still stands. The rearrest was illegal and has been cancelled," Kakari said. "There is no reason why the bail should be cancelled, but other conditions have been added," he ruled. The two were first arrested on August 8, 1996 at Wakaliga Natete in Kampala, after allegedly being caught with seven sub-machineguns with ammunition. According to the records with court, they were ferrying the guns in a minibus 442-UBA. Ends