Buganda Road court has granted Kawempe North MP-elect, Muhammad Ssegirinya alias Mr. Update a Shs3m cash bail.
Ssegirinya appeared in court through video conferencing and his sureties have each been bonded Shs50m, not cash and ordered to leave the original copies of their national IDs in court.
Ssegirinya was arrested on March 22 for allegedly leading a peaceful demonstration in Kampala and later remanded to Kitalya prison.
He had spent more than two weeks on remand battling the charges of inciting violence.
Last week, Ssegirinya’s lawyers Abdul Kiryowa and Shamim Malende submitted different statements which left the presiding magistrate confused.
For instance, Kiryowa told court that they had prepared for only bail application and not hearing of the case while Malende in her submission told court that they were ready to hear the evidence of prosecution witnesses but would prepare for cross examination in the next court sitting.
Another reason the trial could not proceed was because the lawyers did not approach the state for disclosure of it’s intended evidence to enable them prepare Ssegirinya’s defence case.
They insisted that the state had not served them or disclosed anything to them as required by the law, an allegation that was refuted by the state.
Gladys Kamasanyu denied Ssegirinya bail saying both parties in a case have a duty to prepare for the trial.
The matter was adjourned to today April 15 2021 to enable Ssegirinya’s lawyers prepare for the hearing of this case.
