Members of Parliament, Muhammad Ssegirinya (Kawempe North) and Allan Ssewanyana (Makindye West), have finally been granted bail by Justice Lawrence Tweyanze.
The Judge directed the two legislators to each pay a cash fee of Shs20 million and to also deposit their passports at court while their sureties have each been asked to pay Shs 50 million non-cash bond.
The legislators have also been tasked to report to the registrar of the International Crimes Division of the High Court in Kampala once a month and have been cautioned from interfering with the investigations.
The two MPs have been on remand at Kigo since September 2021.
On September 7, 2021, the two legislators were charged with murder before the Masaka Magistrates’ Court. The charges were in connection with a 2021 spate of killings that occurred in the Greater Masaka region. The killings that claimed the lives of 28 people were done by machete-wielding men.
The two MPs were later slapped with additional charges of terrorism and abetting terrorism.
Since then, the MPs have faced a back-and-forth of bail applications and case hearings.
However, their bail application hearing this morning presided over by Justice Lawrence Tweyanze, kicked off at Masaka High Court. The MPs appeared via zoom.
In a fully packed court, the state withdrew its objection to their bail application.
On behalf of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Senior State Resident Attorney Richard Birivumbuka told the court that the DPP has withdrawn three affidavits of prosecution witnesses in which she earlier opposed the bail application.
The affidavits withdrawn were sworn by Thomas Jatiko, Jennifer Amumpaire, and Detective SP Innocent Mubangizi, tendered in on January 23, 2023.