Kampala RDC wants extension of detention period for suspects

PIC :Uganda Chief Justice Bart Katureebe who was the guest of honour for the opening Day of Buganda Road Court Day, accompanied by Chief Majistrate of Buganda Rd.Photo by Peter Busomoke

Court, Jamson Karemani (C) inspecting  the stall of Registration Books of Courts at Buganda Road Court on 12th Apr,2017.Deborah Mbabazi, the Resident District Commissioner (RDC) Kampala has said that the mandatory 48 hours for a suspect to be produced in court are not enough for the police to finalize their investigations.

She asked the police, the judiciary and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to work together and have the detention period extended to 72 hours to give ample time for investigations before a suspect is arraigned in court.

"48 hours is not ample time for investigations. In my opinion, we should make it 72 hours," she said.

Her response came after the Lord Mayor, Erias Lukwago asked the Judiciary and the DPP to devise a means of stopping the police from illegally detaining suspects beyond 48 hours.

"The 48 hour rule has been abused. So many suspects are rotting in the police cells for weeks without appearing before a judge or magistrate," he said.

Lukwago said that even when it comes to filing applications for unconditional release of such suspects, judicial officers never handle them with urgency they require.

They were speaking during the Buganda Road Chief Magistrate's Court open day which was organized to offer an opportunity for the public to interact with the judiciary. The event was help in the court premises, yesterday (Wednesday).

Samalie Wakhooli, a principal state attorney who represented the DPP said that currently they face hardships investigating cases of fraud since they fraudsters have changed their tactics of operation.

"We want to make sure that people's rights are not abused but we are having a challenge with the change in trend in how these crimes are transacted. Fraudsters change tactics daily," she said.

Paul Gadenya, the chief registrar of courts said that there is need for judicial officers to demystify the way they handle cases and interact with the public so that public confidence and trust in the judiciary is revived.

"The public needs a legal system which is simple, receptive, friendly and accessible so that they can confidently make use of it," he said.