Jan. 30
UGANDA:
Museveni and the death penalty
President Yoweri Museveni has repeated his determination to sign death warrants
for those who commit offences like murder. He says it is his way of dealing
with the rampant killings happening in the country.
While addressing the 20th Annual Judges Conference at Speke Resort Munyonyo on
Jan.22, Museveni regretted not signing the death warrants over the years for
convicts of murder.
"For us we believe in the old law of Moses of an eye for an eye, and a tooth
for a tooth," he said, "I will support the death penalty until I retire from
leadership."
This was the 2nd time Museveni was citing the death penalty after he said those
who kill should be hanged during a commissioning ceremony for prison warders a
few days ago.
The judges' conference which ran from Jan.22- 25 was held under the theme 'An
inclusive judiciary for sustainable development' and was attended by judges,
magistrates, registrars and officials of Evolve; an organisation of lawyers
based in the U.K.
Museveni also said he was disappointed by the sentence of 8 months handed out
by City Hall Court to 6 butchers found guilty of using chemicals to preserve
meat and fish.
"How do you hand out 8 months? People who use formalin to preserve meat, those
ones deserve 20 years," he said.
The President also rejected calls for appointment of more judges and their
demands for higher pay and retirement benefits saying Uganda was still a
recovering society unable to take care of all the demands of civil servants.
"How do you fund institutions in a post recovery phase of a formerly failed
state?"
He said the country had other competing needs and added it was a deliberate
policy for Uganda to prioritise road infrastructure where the Works sector gets
Shs4 trillion and the Judiciary Shs134 billion per annum.
Museveni told the judiciary to address the problem of wastage in its sector and
that in the wider government manifested in constant travel on so-called
benchmarking trips.
Judges' demands
The Chief Justice Bart Katureebe laid out a list of demands he said were vital
for the judiciary to effectively perform its duties. Katureebe said the
judiciary needed 532 Grade 1 Magistrates but only 192 are available and 100
Chief Magistrates yet only 42 are present. He said the country needed 82 High
Court judges yet there are only 50 and also said that Court of Appeal judges
needed to be doubled from the current number of 14.
Katureebe also reminded the president about the promises he made to judicial
officers in September 2015 that remain unfulfilled. These include retirement
benefits for judicial offers, houses for judicial officers, vehicles for
magistrates handling land disputes, and Shs10 billion for the Uganda Judicial
Officers SACCO.
The chief justice called for the reinstatement of Local Council Courts which he
said provide justice for rural communities. "LC Courts will shoulder the
millions of unmet needs. If this institution is reintroduced, it will help a
great deal in solving cases in villages because there are fewer negative
emotions involved."
The head of the judiciary lamented the perennial problem of case backlog that
is most common in land, family and criminal cases. "An average land case takes
15 months to resolve". However, Katureebe noted that the judiciary had made
some strides with the automation of courts, introduction of small claims
procedure, plea bargaining; the latter 2 which have lessened congestion in
detention centres.
Magistrates cry out
Godfrey Kaweesa, the Chief Magistrate of Iganga and president of Uganda
Judicial Officers Association told The Independent that Iganga currently has no
resident judge yet it has a High Court circuit and therefore judges have to
come from Jinja to handle cases. "When the judge comes, he has to sit in the
chambers of the chief magistrate and the chief magistrate sits in the library."
Kaweesa also lamented a discrepancy between the welfare of judges and
magistrates even though the entire judiciary is grappling for more resources
altogether.
He says after the Penal Code Amendment Act in 2009 and the Magistrates Courts
Amendment Act, the jurisdiction of the chief magistrates were enhanced but it
is yet to be translated into practice because it did not come with a budget.
Under the State Brief funds, chief magistrates handle semi-permanent cases like
defilement, arson where maximum sentence is life imprisonment. "In this
arrangement, accused persons must be represented by the state yet money under
State Briefs is so limited and the sessions have 40 cases per month".
He says lawyers are shunning the chief magistrate's court to represent accused
persons in this scenario and subsequently suspects are languishing in jail.
"There is only Shs1 million per month for all cases, yet the judges were
getting Shs40 million for the cases; this is form of a discrimination".
He also said the judges are more privileged through benefits like security and
yet magistrates dispose of 80% of judiciary work but with a much smaller
budget.
(source: independent.co.ug)
**************
Kitata Court-Martialed, Could Face Death Penalty
The patron of Boda boda 2010 association also Rubaga NRM Chairman Abdalla
Kitata could face the death penalty if he is found guilty in a Uganda
court-martial.
Kitata and his co-accused who are mostly members of the infamous
vigilante-cum-militia outfit, Boda Boda 2010 face five charges, which include
four counts of failure to protect war material contrary to Section 122 (1) and
(2) (h) and (I) of the UPDF Act, 2005.
They also face charges of being in possession of military stores contrary to
Section 161 of the UPDF Act.
The court-martial is authorized to consider capital punishment, according to a
military statement released Wednesday by the deputy army spokesperson Lt.Col
Deo Akiiki.
The failure to protect war materials attracts a maximum sentence of death while
that of being in possession of military stores attracts a life sentence.
The Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI) Monday referred the case of
Kitatta and 12 others to the Unit Disciplinary Court (UDC) of Uganda Peoples'
Defence forces at Mbuya Army Barracks.
The appeared before the court on Monday but the group didn't take plea for the
charges against them and were remanded to Kigo prison until February 9, when
they will reappear before the military court for mention of the case.
The others are Joel Kibirige, Matia Ssenfuka, Hassan Ssebata, John Kayondo,
Hassan Ssengooba, Sunday Ssemogerere, John Ssebandeke, Sowali Ngobi, Amon
Twinomujuni, Hussein Mugema, Fred Bwanika and Ibrahim Ssekajja. They all face 5
charges, which include 4 counts of failure to protect war material contrary to
Section 122 (1) and (2) (h) and (I) of the UPDF Act, 2005.
"The criminal procedure requires that a court without jurisdiction can only
read the charges preferred and remand the accused," the military emphasized in
its statement.
Akiiki explained that the civilians who are mostly members of Boda Boda 2010,
were to be tried in court martial under section 119 of the UPDF Act which
states that every person found in unlawful possession of arms, ammunition or
equipment ordinarily being monopoly of the defence forces becomes subject to
military law.
Kitata was arrested on January 20, a day after CMI had apprehended his young
brother, Huzairu Kiwalabye over the kidnap and killing of Case Hospital
accountant, Francis Ekalungar.
Ekalungar was kidnapped on 2nd January as he took the hospital's money worth
Shs15million to the bank. His charred body was discovered a day later at
Kajjansi along Entebbe road.
The army arrested at least 30 members of Bodaboda 2010 but has since released
18.
(source: allafrica.com)
KENYA:
Show down looms ahead of Kenya's Odinga swearing-in
A showdown looms between security officers and opposition supporters, as
opposition leader Raila Odinga plans to take the oath of office on Tuesday as
the "president" of Kenya. The police have already banned the planned swearing
in ceremony by Odinga, set for 30 January at the historic Uhuru Park grounds in
Nairobi.
The Kenyan government has said it does not recognize the planned swearing-in of
opposition leader Raila Odinga as the "people's president".
Deputy Vice-President William Ruto on Sunday dismissed the event, and said
Kenya had moved on following the lengthy political period which saw the country
hold 2 presidential elections.
The opposition National Super Alliance (NASA) led by Odinga, on the other hand,
has maintained that they have mobilized millions of supporters across the
country to grace the occasion.
Meanwhile, security officers have vowed that they would use their power to
ensure the swearing-in does not happen.
Speaking in Nairobi on Monday, NASA CEO Norman Magaya said they expect their
supporters to arrive at the grounds by 8.30 am.
"We are swearing-in Raila as the president of the Republic of Kenya, not the
people's president," he said during an interview with a local television
station.
"We legitimately made a reservation for the park, and we have not seen any
notice to turn us away from using it," he added.
On Sunday, Nairobi police chief Japheth Koome said nobody would be allowed to
use the grounds, and described the function as "illegal".
Odinga declared that he will not recognize a win by President Uhuru Kenyatta in
the controversial repeat poll that was held last year in October 26, which
Odinga boycotted. The repeat polls were held after the Supreme Court annulled
the August 8 elections on September 1.
Kenyatta won that vote with more than 98 % of the votes cast.
A dispute ensued after the declaration of those results, as opposition
supporters clashed with police. The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights
issued a report that the clashes left 37 people dead and injured more than 100
others.
Kenya's Attorney General, Githu Muigai, has also warned Odinga that engaging in
the swearing-in exercise was tantamount to treason, and that Odinga risked
facing the death penalty.
(source: journalducameroun.com)
FRANCE:
France warns Iraq against issuing death sentences to European nationals
France reacts to the Iraqi court???s decision of issuing a death sentence to a
German woman, who allegedly belongs to the Islamic State. Paris has responded
to the decision, saying that, "it will intervene" if its nationals are given
capital punishment in Iraq or Syria, for belonging to militant groups.
"Of course if there was a question of the death penalty, the French state will
intervene," Justice Minister Nicole Belloubet told French Media outlets on
Sunday.
When the minister was asked to elaborate on her comments she said, France would
"negotiate with the state in question... on a case-by-case basis".
The comments followed up after the Iraqi court ruled a German woman guilty of
belonging to the Islamic State militant group.
In the past French citizens have been recorded as being the vast majority of
overseas fighters who have enlisted with the militant group.
Local French intelligence services have reported that 690 French nationals were
fighting alongside militants in Iraq and Syria in November.
Muslims should not allow West to 'dictate' true meaning of Islam: VP al Azhar
University
Earlier this month in Pakistan, Vice President (VP) of al Azhar University in
Egypt, Mahmood Ahmed Hashim said that Muslims cannot allow the west to dictate
the meaning of Islam to them, he said while talking to Express News.
Talking to reporters at an invitational event in Karachi Press Club, Hashim
emphasized the historical significance of the Egyptian institute in his speech.
"Al Azhar University has been faithfully serving and guiding the Muslim
community worldwide for the past thousand years," he told the media personnel
present on the occasion.
The vice president also spoke about the need to reform the image of Islam on
the international stage, especially so because terrorists were bent on trying
to shift the narrative away from the message of peace.
"Some elements associate the menace of terrorism with Islam only to defame the
latter. We cannot accept or allow westerners to interpret Islam for us," he
stressed.
(source: The Express Tribune)
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO:
42 on Death Row...but why no hangings?
42 prisoners are on death row. 12 of them cannot meet the hangman because of
Pratt and Morgan.
But for the rest of them, Attorney General Faris Al Rawi has vowed that
Government will do everything to uphold the law in respect of the carrying out
of the death penalty.
He said the last administration "sat on its hands" and did not put any
mechanism in place to ensure that the State complied with its responsibilities.
Responding to a question in the House of Representatives, the Attorney General
said almost the 12 prisoners who failed to meet the Pratt and Morgan, crossed
the deadline during the period prior to September 2015 "because there was
nothing done to implement the law [in respect of hanging]," he said.
"The law (under this Government) will be upheld and the mechanism of tracking
is afoot. And we literally have it on a case by case basis at the desk of the
tracking mechanism in the office of the Attorney General," the Al Rawi said.
He said under Pratt and Morgan once 5 years had been crossed, the prisoner
cannot be hanged. "And therefore the only mechanism that the State could be
involved in is to make sure that you quicken the appellate process from the
State's end," he said.
He said in 2010 to 2015 not a single case was tracked and as a result all
matters fell to Pratt and Morgan and the law with respect to imposing the Death
Penalty could not be applied.
(source: Trinidad Express)
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