Bail is meant to protect and not set free criminals- Lawyer Godber

By Ritah Kemigisa

Policy and legal scholars have asked President Museveni to allocate more funds to the investigative machinery of the state instead of scrapping bail for suspected capital offenders.

Speaking on the KFM Hot seat last night, Godber Tumushabe, a lawyer and associate director at Great Lakes Institute for Strategic Studies said removing bail is not only unfair to the innocent people but is also a miscarriage of Justice.

According to Tumushabe, much as it is a right for one to apply for bail, it is not meant to set free potential criminals but rather protect those accused wrongly.

It is from this that Tumushabe says the president’s proposal on bail is misguided and misconceived.

The president has since argued that granting discretionary powers to courts on bail decisions is a “provocation” and, without providing statistics, said a cause of growing mob justice incidents in the country.

NRM MPs have since rejected the proposal saying anyone could become an accused person for alleged capital crime.

Written by Noelyn Nassuuna