49 Rwenzururu Kingdom loyalists ask for court bail

By Elizabeth Ankunda

26^th Aug 2022

At least 49 loyalists of the Rwenzururu Kingdom have asked the International Crimes Division of the High Court in Kampala to grant them bail after more than six years in custody.

The applicants are part of the group of Rwenzururu loyalists who were arrested together with their King Charles Wesley Mumbere at the height of a UPDF-led offensive at the headquarters of Kingdom palace in Kasese District in November 2016.

They were subsequently charged with murder, terrorism, treason, malicious damage to property, attempted murder, and aggravated robbery.

Although Mumbere and some of the accused Royal Guards were granted bail in previous applications, 84 members of the initial group of 203 suspects have remained on remand, while 10 of the accused persons have died in prison, according to Rwenzururu Kingdom lawyers led by Alfred Makasi.

This morning, Makasi informed Court presided over by Lady Justice Alice Komuhangi Khauka that he had filed an application for bail for some of Mumbere’s co-accused persons who are still on remand at a prison in Jinja and wanted to be given a date for which it will be heard.

In the application, the lawyers argue that the charges against their clients are false, fabricated and intended to embarrass them and the institution of their Kingdom which they symbolize. They add that the suspects have been detained for so long, since their arrest, and that the direction of the trial is not very clear to them at the moment.

They add that while on remand, the suspects whose bail is being sought have been attacked by various ailments for which they seek bail so that they get treatment from their respective homes.

When the matter came up for mention today, the Prosecutors led by Joseph Kyomuhendo were directed to return to court on September 29, 2022, for ruling on an exparte application where they want to protect 42 witnesses they intend to rely on to prosecute the king and his co-accused.

Among the applicants are 44 men and five women who are the only ones that remained on remand despite the release of their fellows.

The five women are:  Enid Biira, Regina Biira, Provia Kabugho, Jovia Musoki and Olivia Mabuga.

The Kingdom together with the government have since been in negotiations to reconcile and have the King and his subjects gain their freedom but lawyer Makasi was not at liberty to disclose how far the process has gone.