Prosecutors in the Uganda People’s Defense Forces-UPDF General Court have up to March 7th 2022 to respond to the bail of Nixon Agasirwe, the former Commandant of the Special Investigations Unit in the Uganda Police Force.
Agasirwe, who is facing trial on two separate files on charges of failure to protect war materials, aiding and abetting kidnaps and unlawful possession of firearms appeared before the General Court-martial presided over by Lt. General Andrew Gutti on Tuesday.
Through his lawyers led by Major Silas Kamanda Mutungi, Agasirwe asked the military court to release him on grounds that the charges against him are available and he has a fixed place of abode in Kiira Municipality in Wakiso District, which is in the jurisdiction of the Court.
The lawyers also told the military court their client has substantial sureties and presented his brother Aloysius Muhangi, Retired Senior Commissioner of Police Laban Muhabwe and Western Uganda elderly’s representative, Joram Ruranga Tibasiimwa.
However, the prosecutors led by Lt. Gift Mubehamwe asked the court to adjourn the case to next week to enable them to prepare a response to the bail application. As a result, Lt. General Andrew Gutti adjourned the matter to March 7th, 2022 to allow the prosecution to respond to the application.
Agasirwe was arrested on October 24th 2017 and appeared in court on February 13th 2018 for unlawful possession of ammunition. He was returned to the same court in August the same year and charged together with his former boss, General Edward Kale Kayihura, the former Inspector General of Police and ten others.
His co-accused include Col. Ndahura Atwooki, Herbert Muhangi, Patrick Muramira and Jonas Ayebaza, Joel Aguma, James Magada, Benon Atwebembeire, Abel Tumukunde and Faisal Katende Amon Kwarisiima, are all Police officers. The others are Rwandan National, Rene Rutagungira and a Congolese, Pacifique Mugenga Bahati alias Ilunga Monga.
The group is accused of unlawful possession of tortoise grenades, which are ordinarily a monopoly of the Defense Forces. They reportedly committed the offence on October 24th 2017 while at Najera, Kira Division in Wakiso District.
They were also accused of having aided and abetted the actions of subordinate police officers and kidnapped and illegally repatriated Rwandan exiles, refugees and Ugandan citizens to Rwanda including Lt. Joel Mutabazi the former bodyguard of Rwandan President Paul Kagame, Jackson Karemera alias Odinga and Sargent Innocent Kalisa.
The police officers were also accused of having failed to supervise and ensure accountability for the arms and ammunition issued to specialized units under the office of the IGP and ended up giving some to Abdullah Kitatta, the former Patron of Boda Boda 2010 who was convicted and subsequently completed serving his sentence.
This is not the first time that Agasirwe is applying for bail in the General Court Martial. In 2018, he applied for bail, but the court dismissed the application on grounds that he didn’t have substantial sureties since they didn’t present a letter from the IGP allowing them to stand surety for him.
Since then, he only appeared in Court as a witness in Kitatta’s trial in 2019. His co-accused were released at the peak of the between Uganda-Rwanda border closure tension, leaving him as the only suspect on the files.
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