By Lady Heart Tina,
COURTS:
Court in Kampala has set next week on Wednesday January 25, dates to hear bail application for satirical novelist Kakwenza Rukirabashaija.
Kakweza was a fortnight ago remanded on charges of offensive communication to the person of President Museveni and his son Lt. Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba.
He denied the 2 counts of offensive communication which the state says offends section 25 of the Computer misuse act.
Today he reappeared for the mention of his case before the Buganda Road Court Chief magistrate Dr. Douglas Singiza who further remanded him to Kitalya Mini Max prison.
Kakwenza’s lawyers led by Eron Kiiza made a bail application before trial to release their client on bail.
They presented 4 sureties including his in-law Julius Galisonga, village mate, a colleague in civil society, and NUP Secretary-General Lewis Rubongoya.
The lawyer also based his bail application on a medical report that showed that Kakweza is a torture victim with healing scars in the back adding that it would be just to release him and he seeks medication from a facility of his choice.
However prosecution’s Joan Keko has opposed Kakweza’s bail application saying once released, he might interfere with ongoing police investigations since the state is still in the process of retrieving data from his Twitter handle on which he has control over; to which the defense lawyer replied that his client has no capacity to interfere with electronic investigations by the State.
Chief magistrate Singiza has however not been able to write his ruling today and reserved it for the 25th January hence remanding Kakweza back to jail until then.
Kakweza was on the 29th December 2021 arrested from his home in Kisaasi Central Nakawa division following a tweet he uploaded on his official Twitter handle ” Kakweza Rukira@kakwezarukira” which the prosecution says was meant to disturb the peace of the president and that of his son Muhoozi.
