Uganda’s judiciary is in untold panic following the rampant killings of top government official including prosecutors.
And to beef up security of prosecutors, Mike Chibita, the Director of Public Prosecution wants Government to avail them Shs5bn in the 2017/18 national budget.
This follows rampant killings that have left top government officials including but not limited to the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Andrew Kaweesi and Joan Kagezi, who was prosecuting the 2010 bombers, dead.
Kagezi was gunned down in cold blood in 2015.
Chibita made the revelation on Wednesday at Parliament while appearing before the committee on Legal and Parliamentary Affairs to present the Directorate’s policy statement.
Addressing the press after interfacing with MPs, Chibita revealed that the shootings that have happened in the recent times have sent shock waves among the State Attorneys who are mandated to prosecute the criminals.
“Joan was shot, she didn’t have any escort vehicle. It isn’t even very sophisticated security we are talking about. To begin with, we need police escort to some of our most vital staff who are working in those very critical areas,” Chibita said.
He added: “… AIGP Kaweesi had a body guard in the car, but that wasn’t enough to stop murderers from murdering him. We are working on a system where we have some other vehicle being added and the budget we presented is Shs5bn.”
It is worth noting that two years on, Kagezi killers are yet to be brought to book.
Commenting on the matter, Chibita said: “We don’t have anything to report yet two years down the road, unfortunately. There had been no credible arrests made. There were people arrested immediately the murder happened, but when we looked through the files, the evidence wasn’t strong enough to sustain so we thought they weren’t the people who did it.”
He added: “We are following some leads and I think there is some credibility in those two leads and we are hopeful that before this year is over, we will have some people in court.”
