OPM scandal: Kazinda bail plea flops as lawyer makes no show

Court matters. The lawyer of the key suspect in the Shs50 billion OPM scam says they were not aware about the hearing since they were not served with a notice.

Hearing of a bail application for the interdicted Principal Accountant in the Office of the Prime Minister, Mr Geoffrey Kazinda, yesterday flopped after his lawyers failed to turn up.

Mr Kazinda, who was brought to the Anti-Corruption Court from Luzira prison asked for an adjournment of the hearing, saying his lawyers were absent.

However, shortly after the adjournment, his lawyer, Mr Isaac Walukagga, turned up.

“I talked to my lawyers and they said January 24 would be an appropriate day for the hearing,” Mr Kazinda said.

Outside the courtroom, Mr Walukagga told the Daily Monitor that they did not know about the bail application hearing because they had not been served with a notice.

The court registrar, Mr Fred Waninda, had earlier adjourned the matter to February 1, when the application would be heard before the trial judge.
In his December 4, 2012 bail application, Mr Kazinda said he was in poor health, with acute high blood pressure, requiring constant and specialised attention, which could not easily be obtained at the prisons.

Contrasting health
Last week, the prisons medical officer told the Anti-Corruption Division of the High Court that Mr Kazinda, who is accused of abuse of office, forgery and unlawful possession of government property, was suffering from depression, making it impossible for him to attend court proceedings.

However, a Mulago physician, Dr Nelson Frederick Nakwagala, in a report released on Wednesday last week, noted that Mr Kazinda was fit to appear in court for hearing of his case.

The medical report noted that the fraud suspect was suffering from obesity and minor hypertension and was in able position to handle any matter that involves the brain.

According to the report, Mr Kazinda’s current physical ailment should be controlled through “continued lifestyle and drug therapeutic methods.”

jkigongo@ug.nationmedia.com