Why Kanyamunyu was denied bail for the third time
Suspect: Mr Mathew Kanyamunyu at high court on Wednesday. PHOTO BY ABUBAKER LUBOWA
What you need to know:
- Prosecution states that the three accused on November 12 while on Kampala-Jinja Road near Malik Car Bond, opposite Uganda Manufacturers Association offices in Lugogo in Nakawa with malice aforethought caused Akena’s death.
- The judge also noted, “I did not agree with the submission on behalf of the applicant, the fact that he had spent more days in prison amounted to changed circumstances. As I earlier stated each added day is a new cause of action but here it is a new cause of action based on the same facts.”
The High Court in Kampala has for the third time denied businessman Mathew Kanyamunyu bail. Kanyamunyu is charged with the murder of a child rights activist, Kenneth Akena who was killed last November in Lugogo.
This was the second time this particular trial judge Yasin Nyanzi had denied Mr Kanyamunyu bail.
In his ruling read by the deputy registrar execution and bailiffs division, Mr Baker Rwatooro Muhendo, the judge noted that the circumstances under which the earlier application was decided are exactly the same circumstances prevailing now.
“Like I mentioned during the hearing and as the law so indicates, Mr Kanyamunyu is free to apply for bail as many times as he wants but that cannot be done before the same judge under the same circumstances. Naturally for the justice system to be fair to Mr Kanyamunyu, the judge has to change if the circumstances are still the same,” justice Nyanzi ruled.
The judge also noted, “I did not agree with the submission on behalf of the applicant, the fact that he had spent more days in prison amounted to changed circumstances. As I earlier stated each added day is a new cause of action but here it is a new cause of action based on the same facts.”
Prosecution led by Ms Immaculate Angotoko had opposed the third bail application of Mr Kanyamunyu saying that the circumstances of the case and the grounds are more or less the same and nothing new had been brought up to compel the court to be part of its earlier exercise of denying him bail.
Mr Kanyamunyu’s lawyer Mr Evans Ocheng listed 14 grounds to support his client’s bail application which include a fixed place of residence at Royal Palms Estate in Nakawa Division and commitment to attend court at all times as and when required upon being granted bail. He argued that his co-accused who was granted bail by the same court has respected the bail conditions set to them of reporting to court and they were even present.
“By the time he applied for his second bail, he had spent 125 days on remand and currently they are 233 days above the 180 days as provided by constitution before trial which is not even known when the case will be heard since he was committed to the High Court in January,” Mr Ocheng argued.
Kanyamunyu along with his co-accused had first applied for bail before Justice Elizabeth Kabanda who ruled that he together with his accomplices had no fixed places of abode.
However on their second attempt, the co-accused, Kanyamunyu’s girlfriend Ms Cynthia Munwangari and his elder brother Joseph Kanyamunyu were granted bail as they said they had fixed places of abode by reason of approved tenancy.
Prosecution states that the three accused on November 12 while on Kampala-Jinja Road near Malik Car Bond, opposite Uganda Manufacturers Association offices in Lugogo in Nakawa with malice aforethought caused Akena’s death.
