Dr Kizza Besigye and Obeid Lutale arrive at the General Court Martial in Makindye, Kampala, on January 14, 2025. PHOTO/AUBAKER LUBOWA
Parliament yesterday passed the controversial UPDF (Amendment) Act, 2025, igniting the debate over its potential to reshape the legal pathway for civilians entangled in military-linked offences.
Central to the Act is a clause granting the military courts to try any civilian who commits offences like being in illegal possession of firearms or aiding a serving UPDF officer to commit a service offense. This provision has raised pressing questions about whether veteran politician, Dr Kizza Besigye, and his aide, Obeid Lutale, who were previously tried in a General Court Martial, could once again face the same court.
In November last year, Dr Besigye and Lutale were allegedly abducted from Nairobi City in Kenya, and flown to Kampala City, and later arraigned before the General Court Martial, alongside UPDF Captain Dennis Oola, who was charged with treachery and illegal possession of firearms.
However, on January 31, the Supreme Court ruled that civilians could not be tried in military courts, ordering an immediate transfer of all civilian files to the regular judiciary. Subsequently, on February 21, Besigye and Lutale appeared before the Nakawa Chief Magistrate’s Court, now facing treason charges under civilian law.
Legal minds
Legal experts and civil rights advocates weighed in on whether the amendment could reopen the possibility of Besigye and Lutale being returned to military court. Legal advocates agree that Dr Besigye and Lutale cannot be taken back to the General Court Martial unless fresh charges are brought against them.
Lawyer Peter Walubiri said the duo is already being tried in a civilian court, and there is no legal provision in the recent amendment that allows a transfer of cases from civilian courts to the military court.
“However, anything is possible. We don’t have independent institutions. If President Museveni is determined to charge them in the court martial, he can simply frame new charges.
He can even drop the current ones in civilian court and charge them afresh,” Mr Walubiri said. Lawyer Jude Byamukama echoed a similar view, noting that the new law cannot be applied retroactively. He stated that Besigye and Lutale cannot be returned to the military court.
“You cannot pass a law and then apply it backwards. It’s not allowed under criminal law,” Mr Byamukama said. He added: “The principle of legality under Article 28 of the Constitution says you cannot be charged with a crime which was not a crime at the time the act was committed. Only those who commit offences after the law is passed can be subjected to it.”
New law, implementation
Mr George Musisi, a social justice advocate, also said Besigye and Lutale, among other civilians who were removed from the court martial following a Supreme Court ruling barring the military court from trying civilians, cannot be sent back there without new charges. “They can’t be taken back to the military court unless the state comes up with new charges. Even those currently remanded under the military court cannot be charged afresh under the new amendment because the law takes effect only from the date it is signed and gazetted,’’ he said.
