The Buganda Road Chief Magistrates Court has finally granted bail to Dr. Kizza Besigye and Samuel Lubega Walter Mukaaku.
Mukaaku and Besigye were each granted cash bail of 2.5 Million Shillings each by the Buganda Road Court Chief Magistrate Dr. Douglas Singiza. Their two sureties were each awarded a non-cash bond of 500,000 shillings.
Besigye presented Kampala Capital City Deputy Lord Mayor Doreen Nyanjura and Kitgum Municipality Member of Parliament Denis Onekalit as his sureties while Mukaaku presented the Forum for Democratic Change Party Deputy Secretary-General Harlod Kaija and former Rukungiri Municipality Member of Parliament Roland Mugume.
The case was adjourned to July 29, 2022, for mention before Magistrate Asuman Muhumuza. In his ruling, Singiza stated that Besigye and Mukaaku had presented substantial sureties and that he was convinced that none of the accused persons will run out of the country if granted bail.
On Thursday, the High Court Criminal Division dismissed a bail application filed by the duo further remanding them.
High Court Judge Justice Tadeo Asiimwe dismissed the application on grounds that it was premature and the applicants had failed to file a fresh application before Buganda Road Court Grade One Magistrate or the Chief Magistrates Court.
The laws governing the Magistrates Court indicate that should one be denied bail, they can apply to the Chief Magistrate, the supervisor of the Magistrates Court.
Besigye and Mukaaku through their lawyers led by Samuel Muyizzi Mulindwa, Ivan Bwowe, and Ernest Kalibala applied for bail in the High Court after their Buganda Road Magistrates Court application was declined.
Grade One Magistrate Asuman Muhumuza denied the duo bail on June 15 because there was a high possibility that they would repeat the same crime they had previously been jailed for.
The charges of inciting violence levied against them follow a protest held along Nakivubo Lane in Shauriyako Parish in Kampala City against the skyrocketing prices of commodities in the country.