Cheeye told to pay sh60m bail
Jul 25, 2009
The Court of Appeal has released Teddy Seezi Cheeye on cash bail of sh60m. He is also required to surrender his passport to the registrar.
By Anne Mugisa and Hilary Nsambu
The Court of Appeal has released Teddy Seezi Cheeye on cash bail of sh60m. He is also required to surrender his passport to the registrar.
A visibly overwhelmed Cheeye, sandwiched between two Prisons warders, made a sign of the cross, when the court said his application had been granted, after a lengthy ruling.
He had stood motionless in the chambers of the Deputy Registrar, Deo Nizeyimana, as Justice George Engwau read the ruling.
Until the very last minute, it was not clear which way the ruling would go as the court rejected some of the grounds Cheeye based on to ask for bail.
Relieved relatives and friends who formed part of the crowd jamming the Registrar’s chambers audibly sighed. His wife Annet Kayiraba drew in her breath when she heard the sh60m cash condition.
Two of his sureties, Allison Kantarama Emirembe and Edward Wayeneza, were ordered to execute a bond of sh50m each not cash. If he jumped bail, they would be forced to pay the money. The court ordered Cheeye to report to the court once every two weeks at 9:00am beginning August 3.
Cheeye, who was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment on April 8, 2009 for embezzling money from the Global Fund, has appealed against the conviction and sentence.
He asked for bail pending the Court of Appeal decision of his appeal in which he maintains that he was not personally responsible for the loss of the Global Fund money by his company. He also contends that the trial court unfairly relied on uncorroborated evidence of an accomplice, Jeffrey Nkurunziza Banga, one of the company’s managers.
In his bail application, Cheeye had cited several grounds including ill-health. He said he was diabetic and had hypertension which needed specialised medical care and medicine, hard to get in Prison.
But the judge said Cheeye’s medical report shows he has been maintained in prison medication resulted into his marked improvement.
“It appears an exaggeration to say that drugs for his ailments are in short supply at the prison,†Justice Engwau ruled.
The court had also noted that the ground that Cheeye be granted bail since he had not jumped bail while on trial in the High Court is not convincing.
Justice Engwau stated: “The principles governing the release of a convict on bail pending the hearing and determination of appeal are different from those of an accused person still under trial because, the latter is presumed innocent until proved guilty. The presumption of innocence and the right to participate in the preparation of a defence to ensure a fair trial are not present where an accused person has already been tried and convicted.â€
The judge also rejected the reason that he is a married man with a large family to look after. “In my view, the alleged hardship to his family perse does not justify a grant of bail,†Justice Engwau ruled.
But the judge added that those do not need to be the grounds for the application to be granted and neither do all the grounds have to be present.
He ruled that several factors, favoured Cheeye: That he is a man of good character, he is a first offender and that the offence for which he was convicted did not involve personal violence.
The judge also considered that his appeal may succeed and that the hearing of the appeal might delay. He also considered that Cheeye had complied with High Court bail application. The judge ordered that his bail appeal be heard in the next criminal session, which the court is yet to set.
Immediately after the ruling, Cheeye was led out to the cells as the relatives tried to mobilise the bail money for his release.
The Court of Appeal has released Teddy Seezi Cheeye on cash bail of sh60m. He is also required to surrender his passport to the registrar.
A visibly overwhelmed Cheeye, sandwiched between two Prisons warders, made a sign of the cross, when the court said his application had been granted, after a lengthy ruling.
He had stood motionless in the chambers of the Deputy Registrar, Deo Nizeyimana, as Justice George Engwau read the ruling.
Until the very last minute, it was not clear which way the ruling would go as the court rejected some of the grounds Cheeye based on to ask for bail.
Relieved relatives and friends who formed part of the crowd jamming the Registrar’s chambers audibly sighed. His wife Annet Kayiraba drew in her breath when she heard the sh60m cash condition.
Two of his sureties, Allison Kantarama Emirembe and Edward Wayeneza, were ordered to execute a bond of sh50m each not cash. If he jumped bail, they would be forced to pay the money. The court ordered Cheeye to report to the court once every two weeks at 9:00am beginning August 3.
Cheeye, who was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment on April 8, 2009 for embezzling money from the Global Fund, has appealed against the conviction and sentence.
He asked for bail pending the Court of Appeal decision of his appeal in which he maintains that he was not personally responsible for the loss of the Global Fund money by his company. He also contends that the trial court unfairly relied on uncorroborated evidence of an accomplice, Jeffrey Nkurunziza Banga, one of the company’s managers.
In his bail application, Cheeye had cited several grounds including ill-health. He said he was diabetic and had hypertension which needed specialised medical care and medicine, hard to get in Prison.
But the judge said Cheeye’s medical report shows he has been maintained in prison medication resulted into his marked improvement.
“It appears an exaggeration to say that drugs for his ailments are in short supply at the prison,†Justice Engwau ruled.
The court had also noted that the ground that Cheeye be granted bail since he had not jumped bail while on trial in the High Court is not convincing.
Justice Engwau stated: “The principles governing the release of a convict on bail pending the hearing and determination of appeal are different from those of an accused person still under trial because, the latter is presumed innocent until proved guilty. The presumption of innocence and the right to participate in the preparation of a defence to ensure a fair trial are not present where an accused person has already been tried and convicted.â€
The judge also rejected the reason that he is a married man with a large family to look after. “In my view, the alleged hardship to his family perse does not justify a grant of bail,†Justice Engwau ruled.
But the judge added that those do not need to be the grounds for the application to be granted and neither do all the grounds have to be present.
He ruled that several factors, favoured Cheeye: That he is a man of good character, he is a first offender and that the offence for which he was convicted did not involve personal violence.
The judge also considered that his appeal may succeed and that the hearing of the appeal might delay. He also considered that Cheeye had complied with High Court bail application. The judge ordered that his bail appeal be heard in the next criminal session, which the court is yet to set.
Immediately after the ruling, Cheeye was led out to the cells as the relatives tried to mobilise the bail money for his release.