City lawyer Kenneth Paul Kakande has revealed that when Joan Kagezi the Assistant Director of Public Prosecution who was also the leading prosecutor in the 2010 Kampala bombing trial was murdered, former Inspector General of police Gen Kale Kayihura was scared when Dr Johnson Byabashaija the Commissioner General of Prisons was dragged in the planned murder.
Kakande narrated that after Kagezi’s gruesome murder, Gen Kayihura summoned criminal law giant Caleb Alaka who was among the defence lawyers representing the suspects at his offices.
“Kagezi murder scared everyone, especially lawyers, my friend Alaka was among the defence lawyers. So, Gen Kayihura summoned him to his office, he went there and was shocked when the police chief told him that they need his help to reveal to security all secrets of his clients insisting that they are the ones behind Kagezi’s murder,” Kakande said when appeared on radio simba’s popular lutindo evening talk show moderated by veteran political journalist Peter Kibazo.
He said that it was easy to believe what Gen Kayihura was telling Alaka because Kagezi was using her experience overzealously to secure conviction against his clients.
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However, Alaka told the police boss that professionally, he cannot discuss any private matter concerning his clients.
“Okay let us assume that it is true, my client participated in my colleague Kagezi’s murder, the prime suspect then should be Dr Byabashaija the Commissioner General. How can they participate in the murder without his knowledge (being that they were in prison),” Kakande quoted Alaka telling Gen Kayihura in a meeting.
He added that Kayihura was shocked when Alaka cited Gen Byabashaija, he immediately changed the narrative and advised him to be careful with his security.
State later gave him Anti-Terrorism commandos to boost his security.
Upto today, the 2010 Kampala bombing suspects who include Hussein Hassan Agade, Idris Magondu, Habib Suleiman Njoroge, Muhammed Ali Muhammed, Selemani Hijar, Hijar Nyamandondo and others, no one has been cited or charged in Kagezi murder.
Gen Kayihura has been on several occasion cited in Kagezi murder and one of the accused persons even testified that him and his blue-eyed boy Nixon Agasirwe masterminded Kagezi murder.
Gen Kayihura was also sanctioned by United States of America, United Kingdom, European union countries on allegation of corruption and violation of human rights.
Kakande said that currently lawyers are going through a lot of intimidations from security bosses especially in politically related cases noting that it is the reason why lawyers who have been representing opposition strongman Dr Kizza Besigye and his political assistant Haji Obed Lutale Kamulegeya are withdrawing from representing them in their ongoing treason case.
“Leave apart lawyers like my friend Ernest Kalibbala, Fred Mpanga, when I show my good friend Samuel Muyizzi who is a known activist lawyer withdrawing from Dr Besigye case, I understood that there is a lot of intimidation and people are scared for their lives. They fear to be added on my friend Erias Lukwago who is in prison because of that case,” Kakande said.
He claimed that there are no chances that Lukwago will be convicted on charges of mistreason of treason which he is facing, insisting that the reason why he is in prison is because he refused to reveal Dr Besigye’s secrets to security something that Kayihura was forcing Alaka to do on the Kagezi murder case.
He revealed that because of the intimidation created by security bosses, a number of lawyers are scared of representing politicians and activists in Court while others are planning to leave Uganda and practice law from other countries.
Fred Mukasa Mbidde another lawyer who is also the Democratic Party national vice president said that the time for threatening President Museveni’s government is over the current security bosses take every threat serious.
“Not everyone in the opposition is going to be arrested. I’m here talking, who has arrested me. The problem is that my comrades in the opposition have been making threatening statements showing that the only option to overthrow president Museveni government is through use of guns,” Mbidde said.
He insisted that the incarcerated opposition politicians have no capacity to overthrow Museveni government through the use of guns, noting that people like Charles Rwomushana, Samuel Lubega Mukaku and others who were named in Dr Besigye indictment were just framed.
