MP Muhammad Ssegirinya given bail finally

The Buganda Road Magistrate’s Court has given Muhammad Ssegirinya, a Kawempe North Member of Parliament, bail after he was charged with inciting violence.

The legislators were granted bail of Sh1 million in cash by Grade One Magistrate Doreen Olga Karungi. She required each of his two sureties to sign a sh10 million bond rather than a cash bond.

Thomas Bagonza, a Wandegeya Ward councilor in Kampala, and Apollo Ariho, a Wampewo Ward councilor in Ruteete Parish in Wakiso district, stood surety for Ssegirinya. Ssegirinya told the court that he is innocent until proven guilty and that the accusations against him are bailable by the Magistrate’s Court in his application, which was headed by Kampala Woman Member of Parliament, Shamim Malende.

During his stay at Mulago National Referral Hospital, he told the court that physicians told him one of his decaying feet had grown cancer-like cells, but they couldn’t tell what type of cancer it was. Malende also claimed that his client suffers from High Blood Pressure and renal problems, both of which necessitate specialized care.

She argued that Ssegirinya is a responsible member of society and a Member of Parliament, and that the court should release him on bond. Ssegirinya, who appeared in court via video link from Murchison Bay prison in Luzira, said he had stomach problems and needed a scan to determine the cause, which he couldn’t get in the cells.

He further accused prison officials of refusing him the opportunity to attend Friday prayers with other convicts and of exposing him to demeaning treatment by medical interns at Mulago Hospital.

Peter Mugisha, the State Attorney, objected to the bail application, claiming that, while Ssegirinya has not yet been convicted, the charges against him prove that he is not a responsible member of society. He claimed that Ssegirinya is a national security threat because he incited violence to the point of calling for genocide, and that there was no medical evidence to back up his claims of illness.

Mugisha further added that Ssegirinya is not a reputable member of society, as his lawyers claimed, because he is facing capital charges in Masaka High Court for murder and terrorism. He requested that the court dismiss the application and schedule Ssegirinya’s case for a hearing as soon as possible.

However, Karungi granted the application, stating that, despite the lack of a medical certificate proving the legislator’s condition, he occasionally presented a rotting foot to the court and appeared physically ill. She further stated that due to his frail health, the Uganda Prisons Services have failed to bring him in court on multiple occasions. She claimed that this was enough proof that Ssegirinya is ill and need medical attention.

She released him on bail and rescheduled the hearing for December 22nd, 2021. She then issued summonses to prosecution witnesses, ordering them to attend on the same day as the trial. The politician, also known as Mr. Update, is accused of making a comment on Facebook’s “Ssegirinya Muhammad Fans Page” that was intended to encourage the public to violence against a part or group of people.

The prosecution quotes the legislator as saying, “I am telling people who are trying to assassinate Hon Robert Kyagulanyi Sentamu that what will happen will be forty times worse than the 1994 Rwandan Genocide.” During the Rwandan genocide, an estimated one million people were massacred in ethnic cleansing over the course of 100 days.