By Aggrey Baba
They say when a pot starts leaking, the cracks only grow bigger. Political analyst Charles Rwomushana has raised fresh concerns about Uganda’s Court Martial, pointing out what he calls glaring inconsistencies in the case of opposition figure Dr. Kizza Besigye.
He questions why the charge of illegal possession of firearms, which was among the accusations leveled against Besigye in the Court Martial, was mysteriously missing when he recently appeared before the Nakawa High Court.
Speaking on Tuesday night during NBS TV’s Barometer show, Rwomushana recalled that the Supreme Court recently ruled the Court Martial unfit to try civilians, ordering all case files to be transferred to the civil courts.
However, he noted that one critical charge did not make the transition. “Why wasn’t the charge of illegal possession of arms read in the civil court? Are they saying Eron Kiiza stole the files as he was banging the tables?” he asked sarcastically, referring to Besigye’s lawyer, who is known for his fiery courtroom arguments, and now in Kitalya prison on a nine month sentence by Court Martial for contempt of court.
According to Rwomushana, this omission exposes a deeper problem. He argues that the Court Martial can easily fabricate evidence to pin suspects. “In the Court Martial, they can just say they found you with a gun. Who will question them? That’s why they are now pushing amendments that will allow them to try civilians again,” he warned.
His comments come at a time when the NRM government, still staggering on the Supreme Court’s ruling, is scrambling to amend the UPDF Act to restore the Court Martial’s power over civilians.
The proposed amendments suggest that if a soldier commits a crime alongside a civilian, both should be tried in the military court. Rwomushana painted a disturbing picture of how this could be abused. “Imagine a soldier saying, ‘I slapped Hon. Nambooze on orders of Rwomushana, just to drag me into the Court Martial. That’s the loophole they are creating,” he cautioned.
With the amendment bill now before Parliament, the battle over military justice in Uganda is far from over. The question remains, if these changes close the cracks or make the pot shatter completely. Time will tell. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
