Ekemu denied bail

By Hillary Nsambu THE High Court has again refused to grant bail to former justice minister and Attorney General Joseph Ekemu. Ekemu and his political assistant, David Kadidi Kamwada, are serving a 24-month term at Luzira Prison for theft and forgery. Justice John Patrick Tabaro said although it would be difficult for Ekemu as a former Minister of Justice and Attorney General to jump the bail, he found it proper to wait for the decision of the Constitutional Court on whether or not the Inspector General of Government had powers to prosecute them for the offences. Through their lawyer, Ezekiel Nsubuga-Mubiru, Ekemu and Kamwada said although their term was about to end, they wished to apply for bail pending the decision of the Constitutional Court since it was not known how long it would take. On January 5, senior state attorney Paul Kalekezi, representing the IGG, opposed an application to release them. He preferred to await the Constitutional Court ruling Earlier, Ekemu and Kamwada had appealed to the High Court to quash the judgment of a chief magistrate, saying the IGG had no powers to prosecute them for theft, uttering a false document and forgery then. The matter was referred to the Constitutional Court. Ends