By Otim Nape
The day finally came and that was yesterday Tuesday for CDF Gen David Muhoozi to appear and testify about the role his UPDF officers and men played in the violence that was occasioned on Members of Parliament December last year. From Betty Nambooze, PSST Keith Muhakanizi, Mzee John Mitala, Asuman Mugenyi to Frank Mwesigwa it was a day for respective lawyers to make adversary witnesses to weep in the witness stand. It was a day for cross examination whereby witnesses had to corroborate on the averments made in their respective affidavits either in support or reply as part of the ongoing Constitutional Petition hearing in the eastern Uganda town of Mbale. For the petitioners’ lawyers, the big fish, for all intents and purposes, lay in Gen Muhoozi.
HOW DID HE PERFORM?
The 52 year old General finally took to the podium and the cross examination, conducted by Ladislaus Rwakafuzi, Erias Lukwago and subsequently, Hassan Male Mabirizi got underway. Granted he is a lawyer by training but still the CDF performed impressively well by all standards. And one thing that bailed him out most was the confidence, clarity and precision of answers that he gave. His answers were brief and delivered with confidence and depicted the demeanor of a truthful witness. With this demeanor, Rwakafuzi’s efforts to provoke him into anger didn’t succeed. Not even the ever very coherently proceeding Mabirizi managed putting the General off balance. To bring out the point, we shall reflect on a few highlights of his testimony and leave it to the reader to judge whether we are right or not to conclude that he beat the petitioners’ lawyers at their own game. Rwakafuzi started by demanding an elaborate explanation regarding what the emergency was at Parliament that day to which the CDF responded by deploying soldiers. Muhoozi said he was unable to answer that detail “because this was in the estimation of the IGP [Kale Kayihura] and I trusted his judgment.” To the judges, that was excellent. Efforts by Rwakafuzi to pursue that matter were thwarted by the judges who insisted the witnesses had truthfully shared all he knew or didn’t know about what exactly constituted emergency. Muhoozi said at 1pm he got a phone call from Gen Kayihura asking for army’s support to enforce law and order at Parliament that day. He then worked downwards through the command structure and within no time the army men were at hand to beef up police. “You called him at 1pm yet the men were deployed as early as 12pm,” Rwakafuzi said amidst foot-stamping. Instead of becoming nervous, like any other untruthful witness would, Muhoozi elaborately explained that Parliament neighbors President’s Office which is expected (and indeed does) to have army men hanging around at all times to secure the principal. It’s immaterial whether the Principal is there or not; the men have to maintain presence, Gen Muhoozi implied. Muhoozi explained that since this was emergency, on getting the IGP’s call, for convenience he signaled the men already deployed at nearby President’s Office to cross over and do the needful. Rwakafuzi asked why, given the importance of the institution of Parliament which Muhoozi said was well knowledgeable about, the CDF didn’t call the Speaker to verify Kayihura’s claim of existence of an emergency. Muhoozi, as if to educate Counsel, explained the CDF was too small a person to directly call the Speaker. “And how about the Sergeant at Arms?” Rwakafuzi asked to which Muhoozi cleverly answered “I didn’t have to because the IGP was directly in touch with him.” At some point, DCJ Alphonse Owiny Dollo asked what the matter was that police alone couldn’t handle. He also asked what Muhoozi thinks prompted Kayihura to call him instead of sending for more policemen from CPS which is nearer than Mbuya where the military is headquartered. Muhoozi explained that the men at President’s Office still were nearer, and more suited to handle VIP situations, than any policemen Kayihura would get from CPS or any other police installation. The DCJ raised this matter after Muhoozi argued that the soldiers were deployed with the intent not to cause any physical harm as seen in the fact that they were dressed in suits and never carried any assault rifles into the chamber. This made Dollo conclude that then their intervention was avoidable since this (putting on suits and handling VIP situations) was something police could as well do without calling in the army whose primary role (as admitted by Muhoozi) is to secure Uganda against external threats. There was laughter when Muhoozi said the soldiers were visible around Parliament as early as 12pm (before Kayihura’s 1pm phone call came in) because that is expected as they are always around that place in the ordinary execution of their normal duties. At some point, he said he dispatched the soldiers to support the police to restore the integrity of Parliament but Counsel Rwakafuzi, who was always out to get him, somehow didn’t’ remember to task him to explain what had exactly happened to the integrity of Parliament to require restoration. Muhoozi was also asked whether he was aware the army was subordinate to the civilian authority which MPs epitomize and he said he was very much aware which is why he was careful enough to ensure the guys he sent on Kayihura’s prompting were those that are well trained in handling VIP situations. To many, this sounded logical and some people construed Muhoozi’s submission to imply that something worse could have happened. Rwakafuzi asked him about the unconstitutionality of torture under chapter 4 of the constitution (Bill of Rights). Muhoozi skillfully said he was in agreement torture is abominable and rightly prohibited in the Constitution but wasn’t aware any of the UPDF soldiers he deployed to back up police personally tortured anybody that day at Parliament. It was now upon Rwakafuzi to contradict him that he was well possessed with that knowledge which was a toll order for Counsel. Muhoozi, who has both the Makerere law school and LDC qualifications, was very composed throughout and often answered his questions very promptly and posed to wait for the next. It appears he would work out his answers even before Rwakafuzi would be midway his question. The CDF would politely stand, facing down a bit, as he waited for the next question. At times, Sr. Counsel Rwakafuzi would pose as well as if expecting the very inquisitorial justices especially Kenneth Kakuru and Dollo to protest the way Muhoozi was answering. This never happened and instead especially Dollo eventually came to the rescue of Muhoozi as seen in the way he humiliatingly shut up Mabirizi who became so irritated and characteristically protested. The man from Mawokota specifically accused the DCJ of protecting the witness in a manner that is totally alien to the Evidence Act. Justice Remy Kasule asked Muhoozi if he was personally present at Parliament that day and he said no. He said having trusted the IGP’s sense of judgment, he considered the convenience of falling back on his men at the President’s office since it was the nearest for the emergency the IGP said he was facing at nearby Parliamentary Buildings. Counsel Rwakafuzi sought to catch him on why the military maintained a presence around Parliament for many days yet Kayihura’s request for backup was for that particular day 19th December. At this point, a calm-talking Muhoozi called on the judges for protection “so that Counsel restricts his questions to the contents of my affidavit because that is what I’m here to be cross –examined on.” Rwakafuzi had meandered into asking whether the well-illustrated presence of the mambas on the roads leading to Parliament didn’t amount to military presence in the CDF’s estimation. Erias Lukwago, who came in to take up from Rwakafuzi, asked Muhoozi about the essentiality of the National Security Council (NSC) which is even a creature of the Constitution. The Lord Mayor, who had excelled earlier in the day mercilessly roasting Keith Muhakanizi and Mzee Mitala, had wondered why the NSC approval wasn’t sought prior to that deployment at Parliament. Muhoozi prudently answered that whereas it was proper to obtain that approval, consulting NSC is sometimes not practically possible especially in emergency situations similar to the one Gen Kayihura painted for him on phone. And besides, “it’s not true that in every deployment we make, we must seek the approval of the NSC.” Asked why he didn’t advise Kayihura to call for re-enforcements from the police itself since CPS isn’t very far, Muhoozi said “I trusted the IGP and I had no reason to doubt his judgment.” Lucky enough he was saying all these things well knowing Kayihura would never come to contradict him since he isn’t among those witnesses the petitioners had the privilege to call to Court. Instead it were the less prolific Asuman Mugyenyi and Frank Mwesigwa that faced the Rwakafuzi-Lukwago fire immediately after Muhoozi left the witness stand. Unfortunately for the petitioners Mugyenyi and Mwesigwa couldn’t answer for the ex-IGP especially regarding his phone call to the CDF. In fact in his submissions, Muhoozi advised that it would be better if they called in the ex-IGP to specifically answer for himself. Towards the very end of his cross examination, Justice Kakuru asked why, given violent confrontations that had elsewhere preceded the raid on Parliament, Muhoozi didn’t caution his men to exercise caution and restraint. Kakuru also referred to the country’s turbulent history. The CDF still cleverly answered this saying: “My Lord that is why we chose those very soldiers because these are VIP-trained and they were going to handle a situation involving the VIPs.” He stressed they were not armed and came bare-handed. The DCJ then asked why it necessitated the army as if police lacked men that could put on suits and enter the chambers bare-handed. The CDF fell back to saying he relied on the judgment of the IGP. The two justices also focused him on the possibility this was anticipatory deployment but still Muhoozi slipped away simply saying “My Lords there was anticipation yes by police and not us as the UPDF.” Mabirizi, famous for catching people off guard, weighed in asking Muhoozi why he thinks the AG chose him to swear an affidavit yet there are other people who were more involved than him. Muhoozi said he doesn’t know why the AG chose him specifically. Mabirizi insisted the CDF didn’t know anything but was crafted into the state’s scheme of things in order to shield the real person (invisible hand?) who ordered the military raid on Parliament. As Muhoozi looked on (almost contemptuously), the Mabirizi menace was cleared away when Dollo ordered him to sit arguing his questions were inappropriate. Mabirizi demanded that Muhoozi proves him wrong by disclosing/identifying the person before whom his affidavit was signed but Dollo didn’t let him finish his question. In a very humiliating way, Dollo (who praised Muhoozi for being the first CDF he knows to have undergone such cross examination) ordered Mabirizi to resume his seat in a manner that left many court users feeling humiliated. For comments, call/text/whatsapp us on 0703164755!
