State witness fails to pin MP Ssegirinya
Kawempe North MP Mohammed Ssegirinya in court recently. PHOTO/FILE
What you need to know:
- A cybercrime investigator attached to the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI), Kibuli, Mr Bill Ndyamuhaki, during cross-examination said he could not confirm whether a Facebook fan page in Ssegirinya’s name actually belongs to him.
A state witness in the case against Kawempe North Member of Parliament, Muhammad Ssegirinya, yesterday failed to tell the exact owner of a Facebook account.
A cybercrime investigator attached to the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI), Kibuli, Mr Bill Ndyamuhaki, during cross-examination said he could not confirm whether a Facebook fan page in Ssegirinya’s name actually belongs to him.
While testifying at Buganda Road Chief Magistrate’s Court, Mr Ndyamuhaki said he received instructions to establish the source of the utterance and extract to facilitate investigation into a case of alleged utterance and incitement to violence made and posted by Muhammad Ssegirinya on his Facebook fan page that was in Luganda .
Court further heard that he conducted an analysis on social media and it was established that the said video was posted on a Facebook account of Tom Voltaire Okwalinga on August 31, 2020 with a title “NUP official says they will kill 40 times of those killed in Rwandan Genocide if anything happens to Kyagulanyi” in a video shared by 147 facebook followers. The video runs for 1 minute and 25 seconds.
“A Facebook page Ssegirinya Muhammad Fans Page was accessed on URL [Uniform Resource Locator or web address] and it was established that on August 30,2022 there was a live broadcast thereafter a post titled ‘ Sipapa update and Male Mabirizi Kaweddemu’ was posted on the Facebook page with a video,” Mr Ndyamuhaki said in his testimony.
“It was observed that the said video posted on Facebook account of Tom Voltaire Okwalinga was an extract from a longer video that was first posted on the Facebook page of Ssegirinya Muhammad Fans running for one hour, four minutes and 25 seconds. It was shared by 1,021 Facebook followers,” he added.
Mr Ndyamuhaki further told court that all the statements that were made in the video were inciting violence.
But when he was asked by the defence lawyer Mr Zefania Zimbe whether he was incited by the video, he first said yes, sending the fully packed court into fits of laughter when he failed to explain how he was incited.
Mr Ndyamuhaki was the second prosecution witness to testify against jailed MP Ssegirinya of alleged utterance and incitement of violence.
Mr Ssegirinya, who looked frail, appeared before Grade One Magistrate Siena Owomugisha for the hearing of his case. The case has been adjourned to February 10 for further hearing. The prosecution is expected to produce more witnesses to pin Mr Ssegirinya.
Prosecution led by Ivan Kyazze states that in August and September 2020, Mr Ssegirinya, a resident of Nsoba Kyebando Parish in Kawempe, a city suburb and others still at large incited violence through his Facebook account.
