Kampala City Mayor Erias Lukwago. PHOTO/FILE
Kampala City Mayor Erias Lukwago was among the first convicts of the now-frozen General Court Martial.
He says the conviction and a Shs2,000 fine meted against him in 2005 have since become a huge weight that he carries around as he goes about his life.
Mr. Lukwago says whenever he travels outside the country, there are forms that he has to fill out, requiring him to state whether or not he is a convict.
Since he was convicted by then chairperson of the General Court Martial, the late Gen Elly Tumwiine, he finds it rather embarrassing to fill out that part since those who don’t know the history leading to his conviction think he is a hardcore criminal.
“On any form that requires a criminal record, I have to confess that I am an undischarged convict and there are those who do not bother to ask for the details. I'm treated like a hardcore criminal convict. That is very bad in the eyes of the international community. It has tainted my image and my record,” says the Lord Mayor.
Narrating events leading to his conviction, the acting president of the People's Front for Freedom (PFF), which has applied for registration as a political party, says back in 2005, after then Opposition leader Dr. Kizza Besigye was paraded before the General Court Martial alongside 22 others over allegations of treason, he was his lawyer.
His crime in the eyes of General Tumwiine was to speak in his court without first seeking permission.
“All the submissions we would make, including asserting ourselves as practicing advocates with an audience before court, were not heard.
“He (Gen Tumwiine) said we had no powers as lawyers to speak and that he is the one who would permit us to either speak or not but it is our right and I tried to tell him that.
He took that with a pinch of salt as he never took it lightly. To him, it constituted contempt of court.
So, right away, he directed his mean-looking men to pounce on me and my colleague Caleb Alaka, and they dragged us into the dock where Dr. Besigye and others were.”
It was because of these acts that Gen Tumwiine handed down a two-week jail term or, in the alternative, a fine of Shs2,000.
He chose the latter option with his colleague Alaka.
Other incidents
Mr. Lukwago says the other pain that the conviction by the military court has caused him is its negative impact on his political life.
He says his rivals in 2011 wanted to use the same conviction record hovering over his neck to block his candidature for city Lord Mayor by claiming that he was unfit to contest for a political position because of his criminal record.
“I tried to convince the Electoral Commission that this is not an offence within the meaning of that particular provision because these are cases of strict liability.
So this is not an offence whereby one is alleged to have had an evil mind.
Did I have that evil mind that you would call moral turpitude?
The Electoral Commission wouldn't listen to me. So when the matter was adjourned, I realised I was going to be kicked out of the race,” he avers.
He adds that he quickly assembled a team led by senior constitutional lawyer Peter Walubiri to go to the Constitutional Court to file a petition challenging the constitutionality of the proceedings before the General Court Martial.
His relief came when the Constitutional Court issued a temporary injunction stopping the Electoral Commission from disqualifying him from contesting for the seat of the Lord Mayor.
Mr. Lukwago also bitterly recalls when he was chased out of the same military court, chaired then by Lt Gen Andrew Gutti, when he attempted to stand surety for Gen David Sejusa, a suspect at the time.
“Mr. Gutti asked me what credentials I had, which I explained, and he then asked, ‘Do you know the rank of the person you have come to stand surety for?’”
He continues:
“I said he’s a military general.
He asked me what rank I was in the army, and I said ‘I was a civilian.’
Then he literally exploded and yelled at me, ‘Get out of my court.’
He chased me as if he was chasing a kid.”
But the landmark verdict by the Supreme Court, delivered on January 31, stopping the trial of civilians before the General Court Martial and military courts, came as music to Mr. Lukwago’s ears—something he had long wanted to hear.
“I've been in this battle against the General Court Martial for the last 20 years.
You know, the General Court Martial started with Dr. Besigye, and I'm pleased to note that it has ended with him again.
He was the first in the dock and the last,” Mr. Lukwago says.
