Justice Mike Chibita of the Supreme Court has released controversial city businessman Apollo Senkeeto alias Kalyesubula Mark on Shs20m bail cash.
Senkeeto was among the suspects convicted and sentenced on charges related to corruption, embezzlement and uttering false documents so as to benefit from the billions of monies released by the government of Uganda to construct Mukono – Kyetume Katosi/Kisoga Nyenga road.
According to court documents, Senkeeto was the country representative to America’s Eutaw Construction company which was awarded the contract of constructing the road by the defunct Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA).
Even though the Court of Appeal acquitted Senkeeto on charges related to theft of Shs24bn, he was convicted on charges of uttering false documents, obtaining and execution of securities by false presence. He was acquitted by the Court of Appeal and was sentenced to serve six years in prison which he challenged in the Supreme Court.
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Through his lawyers led by Margaret Namatovu, Senkeeto filed an application to be released from prison pending the hearing of his appeal. He presented three sureties to stand for him including his 79-year-old father Rev. Canon Albert Samuel Senkeeto of Mpigi district, 67-year-old Florance Rubura and a 63-year-old Ruth Tiner Kibirige.
When delivering his ruling, judge Chibita based on Senkeeto’s affidavit and medical reports from prisons services which confirmed that he is suffering from a chronic and persistent asthmatic condition and chronic lower back pain, which he contended had reached a life-threatening level and could not be managed in the prison facility.
Even though the Inspector General of Government (IGG) lawyers protested the bail application claiming that the said medical report was outdated, they did not adduce evidence of any new report.
The judge agreed with Senkeeto that after his conviction at the Court of Appeal which sent him to prison, he fell ill in prison and was transferred from Kigo Health Centre to Murchison Bay Hospital but Prisons still failed to manage his critical situation.
“In my view therefore, his condition cannot fairly be managed in prison. Given that his health is unresponsive to treatment despite being moved to a different Prisons ‘medical facilities. This poses a high risk to his health and in my opinion, guided by the constitutional sanctity of life, where incarceration poses a real risk of death due to a pre-existing medical condition, judicial discretion should tilt towards liberty to ensure the appellant survives to hear the outcome of their appeal,” the judge stated.
He added that it would be a failure of the judicial process to allow Senkeeto’s life to be extinguished by the rigors of detention before the merits of their appeal is fully determined.
However, the judge set tough conditions for his release including directing him to pay Shs20m cash for bail and his sureties were ordered to pay a noncash of Shs100m each.
He was directed to deposit his passport with the Registrar of the Supreme Court and ordered not to apply for any new passport until the final disposal of the appeal.
He was directed to report to the Supreme Court Registrar every last working day of every month beginning from 31st December, 2025 until the disposal of his appeal.
