On Friday morning, Christine Nantege the Nakawa Chief Magistrate summoned Jonathan Tiyo a Grade One Magistrate to her chambers and instructed him to proceed with the primary trial of the criminal charges against opposition strongman Dr Kizza Besigye, his political assistant Hajji Obed Kamulegeya Lutale and UPDF soldier Captain Denis Oola.
Nantege explained to her colleague that even though her boss the Chief Magistrate Elias Kakooza had allocated the said criminal file to her after her colleague Esther Nyadoi recused herself from preceding with the trial, she was very scared and not comfortable to handle the matter.
“For you, you’re familiar with the situation since the previous time you faced those people when you sat in for Nyadoi, I’m asking you to proceed with the file and commit the accused persons to the High Court, please,” a source quoted Nantege.
Without wasting her time, highly placed sources at Nakawa Chief Magistrate Court said that Tiyo openly told her boss that he only accepted Nyadoi’s prayer to sit in for her after explaining to her that she was summoned by her boss the Chief Registrar and surely, she was not present and she only directed him to adjourn the matter without doing anything on the controversial file.
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Softly, Tiyo told Nantege that he was not going to take on the assignment she was giving him and he immediately moved out of her chambers and walked to his car and drove out of the Court premises.
Sources divulged that he did it to avoid further summons because he was scared that Nantege was going to report the matter to her boss Kakooza.
Without any other option, Nantege decided to walk to Courtroom to preside over the trial and she was welcomed by a scuffle which resulted from the fight between Besigye supporters and the alleged State operatives who tried to confiscate Ingrid Turinawe’s phone because she was taking their pictures and filming them.
Kampala Lord Mayor Ssalongo Erias Lukwago who was leading Besigye’s legal team reported the matter to the presiding magistrate claiming that in the previous court sitting, two of their people who attended court were abducted by security operatives and taken in the feared Toyota Hiace car commonly known as Drone.
He explained that after being badly tortured, they were dumped by the roadside and they are currently receiving medication. Lukwago pleaded with court to take action against errant security operatives from violating the sanity of the temples of justice.
As Nantege was trying to control the situation, Lukwago’s team protested the move by the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) through Richard Birivumbuka and militant Joseph Kyomuhendo to amend the charge sheet insisting that it cannot happen in the absence of their lead counsel Marth Karua a seasoned Kenyan lawyer and politician.
Nantege overruled Lukwago and allowed Birivumbuka to proceed which forced Besigye himself to address the Court and withdraw his legal instructions from Lukwago and team insisting that he has a reason why Karua should be present when such action is being taken.
As Lukwago and team were moving out of Court, Birivumbuka stood to proceed with the application to amend the charge sheet ex-parte.
Again Besigye protested, and addressing Nantege as ‘Madam chair’, he warned her that she will have betrayed her judicial oath if she allows prosecution team to proceed with their plans in the matter which can result into his death without the presence of his lawyers. He wondered why Nantege was being impenitent.
Nantege felt touched by Besigye’s statements and she stopped ruthless Birivumbuka from proceeding alone without Besigye’s lawyers. He advised him to wait until 29th May 2025 to move with his amendments when Karua is present.
Earlier on, Birivumbuka faced off with Maj Nsubuga Busagwa, a UPDF soldier representing Capt. Oola who insisted that nothing should be done in the matter before releasing his client on court bail explaining that he has been on remand for six months.
Citing the Magistrate Courts Act, Nsubuga told Nantege that the Constitution commanded her that if a suspect is brought before her after spending six months on remand, she should with immediate effect release him or her.
Besigye’s lawyers also pleaded in the same spirit for the release of their clients.
However, Birivumbuka and Kyomuhendo protested the submissions insisting that the accused persons have not yet spent six months on remand as their lawyers are claiming.
They noted that they were remanded on treason charges in February 2025 after their file was transported from the General Court Martial to the Civilian Courts as the Supreme Court Justices directed.
Highly placed sources in the DPP’s chambers told this website that in the amendments they want to make, they want to arrange the charges with the new laws because they used the outdated laws when charging them. Immediately after amending the charge sheet, they are going to be committed to the High Court for trial.
Nyadoi recused herself from the matter citing social media attacks on her personality and her immediate family members including her mother the Tororo district woman legislator Sarah Opendi.
