A man facing murder charges alongside Makindye West MP Allan Ssewanyana and his Kawempe North counterpart Muhammad Ssegirinya has said he has neither ever met the two legislators nor even has a clue who they are.
Mike Sserwadda questioned why the International Crimes Division of the High Court cannot hear his application that seeks a stay of proceedings due to violation of his human rights in during detention.
The two legislators, together with Sserwadda and four others, are facing three counts of murder and attempted murder allegedly committed on August 23 2021 at Ssetaala and Ssenya villages in Kimanya-Kabonera division in Masaka City.
“In 2021, I instructed my lawyer to file an application citing how we were tortured, he said he couldn’t [do so] due to COVID-19 but now it’s 2024 and he has never submitted it,” Sserwadda told the court.
“These MPs they are charging me with, I don’t know them, I have never talked to any of them and I don’t know how they even look like.
The prosecution alleges that the accused persons murdered Francis Kizza, Sulaiman Kakooza, and Tadeo Kiyimba and attempted to murder Ronald Ssebyato of Ssetaala village in Masaka.
The other co-accused are Bill Wamala, Jackson Kanyike, John Mugerwa, and Jude Muwonge.
Geoffrey Turyamusiima, a lawyer representing the accused persons said he was waiting for the full trial to commence and he files the applicants.
Sserwadda’s complaint is pursuant to Section 8 of the Human Enforcement Act, which prescribes that Court must stay any proceedings at any stage once the suspects raise any violation of Human Rights during indictment.
With Sserwadda’s complaint and Ssengirinya’s current sickness, court was left with no option other than first dealing with the human right’s complaint as the trial will pend the findings that Court will discover from the application.
“This will also give Ssegirinya time to regain strength as he joins others for trial,” presiding judge Alice Komuhangi said.
According to Ssegirinya and Ssewanyana’s defence led by Samuel Muyizzi, the current courts decision to stay proceedings on long overdue because they started filing the application when the legislators were tried at Masaka High Court and even when the International Crimes Division was still in Kololo.
“We are happy that the co-accused have come out to confess not knowing our clients and having anything to do with them. We need no more evidence than this,” Muyizzi said.
Ssegirinya is currently undergoing specialised treatment at Agha Khan Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya. He spent nearly 16 months on remand following their arrest on September 7, 2021.
The two MPs were granted bail in February last year.
