Court dismisses Besigye petition on terrorism

The Constitutional Court yesterday dismissed the nine-year old petition in which Dr Kizza Besigye was challenging the offence of terrorism under the Penal Code Act as being unconstitutional.

When the five justices of the court called the petition for the hearing yesterday, neither Dr Besigye nor his legal team were in court to prosecute it. No reason was given for their absence either.
“When this petition was called for hearing, the petitioner (Dr Besigye) or his legal representation were not in court. Evidence of service on him has been showed. We agree with the request of the counsel for Attorney General and this petition is dismissed for non-appearance with no order to costs,” Justice Fredrick Egonda-Ntende ruled as he dismissed Besigye’s petition.

The other justices were Elizabeth Musoke, Cheborion Barishaki, Muzamiru Mutangula Kibeedi, and Irene Mulyagonja.
Prior to the dismissal of the petition, Ms Charity Nabasa, a State Attorney from the Attorney General’s chambers, asked court to dismiss Besigye’s petition under Rule 23 of the Civil Procedural Act.

Ms Nabasa said the rule demands that court can dismiss a matter where the petitioner does not show up to prosecute his/her matter after being served with a hearing notice.   
Efforts to reach Dr Besigye on why he didn’t show up in court or send his counsel were futile as his known phone number was switched off by press time yesterday.
Besigye’s petition was among 53 constitutional cases that have stayed in the Constitutional Court since 2011. The petitions have been scheduled for hearing within one month effective yesterday.

Dr Besigye, a four-time presidential candidate, was challenging Section 26 of the Penal Code Act, which he said contravenes the Constitution and that it should be struck out.
He had further stated that the terrorism offence in its present form contravenes constitutional right to personal liberty, fair hearing and other human rights and freedoms in the Constitution.

Similar petition

In December last year, the same court dismissed a petition by Dr Besigye in which he had sued government for alleged unlawful arrests and prosecution.
He wanted the Constitutional Court to declare his arrest and prosecution unconstitutional. However, the judges instead advised him to seek justice before a judge who swore him in as the president of Uganda after the disputed 2016 elections. 

In a unanimous decision of five justices of the court led by Kenneth Kakuru, they said Dr Besigye’s self-swearing in as president in 2016 was in contempt of the Supreme Court judgment, which upheld President Museveni’s election in the presidential election petition filed by Amama Mbabazi. 
The judges said since Dr Besigye considered the current government illegitimate, it implied there were no legally constituted courts of law where he can seek justice as a petitioner. They advised him to seek justice before courts in his “own government.”