The constitutional court in Kampala has freed former Principal Accounting Officer in the Office of the Prime Minister Godfrey Kazinda from corruption and abuse of office cases charged on him by the Anti corruption court.
The panel of five judges led by Justice Steven Musota ruled that Kazinda was being punished twice for the same cases which is against the double jeopardy rule.
They noted that a person cannot be convicted twice on two different charges arising from the same conduct unless they are significantly different.
In 2013, Kazinda was sentenced to jail by the Anti Corruption court after finding him guilty of corruption and abuse of office. Every time he served a sentence, he got a fresh one at the end.
However, the court of Appeal and constitutional court today cancelled persecutions against him and ordered that he should never be persecuted on same matter again in any court.
Court therefore stopped Kazinda’s trial however, he couldn’t be freed since he still has other cases he is battling with and he has consequently been returned to Luzira.
