The last group of Kampala Capital City Authority-KCCA Councilors has been granted bail on charges of inciting violence.
Richard Ssembatya , Charles Mpindi, and Morshin Kakande were set free by the Buganda Road Grade One Magistrates Court presided over by Sanula Nambozo. They were part of the 13 Councillors that were arrested two weeks ago for inciting violence.
They are Aksam Ssemakula a Personal Assistant to the Speaker of Kampala Capital City Authority Zahara Luyirika who was earlier released on bail.
Others included KCCA Speaker Luyirika, her Deputy Speaker Nasuru Masaba, Gadafi Jafari Kamya, Paul Kato,, Moses Katabu, Winnie Nansubuga, Morsh Africkan Ssendi, Fausta Bitaano, Faisal Kibirige Ssebayiga and Rose Kigozi.
On Monday, the court declined to grant bail to Ssembatya, Mpindi, and Kakande on grounds that the documents presented by the sureties had discrepancies.
However, on Thursday, the three through their lawyers led by Erias Lukwago and Samuel Muyizzi presented documents from sureties whom the court found to be substantial and accordingly granted each bail of 500,000 shillings and their sureties 2 million shillings non-cash.
All the sureties have been warned that in the event the accused persons fail to turn up for trial each will have to pay 3 million shillings cash.
Trouble for the councilors started on February 4 2022 when they went to Allen Street and started protesting against KCCA’s intensified operations against street vendors and hawkers in Kampala under their Smart City Campaign aimed at decongesting the city.
The operation has since left some vendors jobless due to confiscation of their goods and others are trading from Usafi and Segawa Market where they complain of poor sales.
As a result, the councilors laid a protest saying that the actions to remove vendors was illegal because in 2017, the council resolved to allocate Ssebaana Kizito, Allen, and Kafumbe Mukasa roads to street vendors to operate but the technocrats wing ignored it.
It is against this background that the councilors who all belong to the opposition National Unity Platform protested and were arrested and held at Central Police Station in Kampala where they spent a night before they could be sent on remand a day later.
