MPs Ssegirinya, Ssewanyana Granted Bail After 16 Months in Prison.

National Unity Platform Members of Parliament, Mr Muhammad Ssegirinya (Kawempe North) and Allan Ssewanyana (Makindye East) have been granted court bail after spending sixteen month in prison.

The two legislators have been on remand since September 2021, after being accused of having hand machete-wielding gang killings which happened in the Greater Masaka.

The MPs were given a cash bail of Shs20m each while their sureties were bonded at Shs 50m non-cash.

Lawrence Tweyanze, the Masaka High Court Judge  on Monday afternoon reasoned with the lawyers of the two legislators that it is their constitutional right for the two  to be released on bail but to also enable them get treatment outside prison they have been since September 2021.

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The judge directed that each of the two legislators pays a cash bond of shs20 million as well as depositing their passports with the court.

The sureties include; Mr Joseph Ssewungu Gonzaga (Kalungu West MP) and Mr Moses Kasibante (former Rubaga North MP) who stood for Mr Ssewanyana while Masaka Mayor Ms Florence Namayanja (Masaka City Mayor) and Mr Bagonza Thomas (Kawempe Division Councilor) stood for Mr Ssegirinya.

This was after the state withdrew affidavits blocking the legislators’ bail application and instead set terms for the bail.

While appearing before Justice Lawrence Tweyanze, the Masaka resident state attorney Mr Richard Birivumbuka, told the court that the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) had issued a certificate of no objection to that effect.

He said that the state also was pleased to retract the affidavits sworn by Thomas Jatiko, Jenifer Amumpaire and detective SP Innocent Mubangizi that had been tendered in court on January 23, 2023.

The sureties for the MPs have each been asked to pay a shs50 million non-cash bond.

The legislators have also been asked to report to the registrar of the International Crimes Division of the High Court in Kampala once a month but also warned against interfering with investigations into their cases. 

The release on bail came on the backdrop of an unprecedented move in which the state which had earlier opposed the application by the two legislators opted to reverse the same.

Ssegirinya , Ssewanyana and other  five including Mike Sserwadda, Jude Muwonge, Bull Wamala, John Mugerwa and Jackson Kanyike were accused of murder, attempted murder, aiding and abetting terrorism stemming from the 2021 spate of killings in Masaka and Lwengo districts of Greater Masaka region where unknown assailants using machetes killed more than 20 people in one month.