KAMPALA-UGANDA/NEWSDAY: Legal Brain Trust Lawyers have rallied for a citizen engagement to stamp out corruption in the country calling out clean-minded individuals to contribute Shs.10,000 to assist in research and prosecution of the orchestraters of graft.
Citizens can sanction the corrupt masquerading as tycoons yet they have attained wealth illicitly- without any form of hard work or integrity, says Human rights and Public interest lawyer Gawaya Tegule
“We invite the public to join us. Crack down on them, fight them. Isolate them. Don’t rent from their buildings. Don’t support their businesses. Let them feel isolated,” Gawaya said Thursday.
The fight against graft is expensive and risky but Gawaya vowed they would persist, and go on with it until the nation that he said is under capture is freed. He provided 0741783181 and 0789 204341in the name of Isaac Ssemakadde as fund-receiving numbers.
He added, because corruption is embedded within the veins of government agencies and officials, LBT cannot be funded by the state, making it a public issue for well-wishers to make contributions.
Gawaya said there is case killing by the offices supposed to fight graft. To his like-minded, he said, they will employ the legal measures to tackle those who benefit from stealing government money.
“We are not pointing fingers we are simply setting a national agenda. The systems (to fight corruption) are manned by the Godfathers of corruption. We lose trillions annually. We want citizen participation, politicians won’t assist. We will apply the law, we will use it to free ourselves. Let us do public funding,” Gawaya said.
Gawaya said that history has shown (for example) Hassan Basajjabalaaba involved in scandal after scandal.
“We are under capture, we are seeing selective prosecution because of judicial capture……state capture. The corrupt are being handled with gloves,” Gawaya said.
He was speaking alongside Legal Rebel, Isaac Ssemakadde at club Obligato in Kampala during a “debunking of the myths and lies” by Director of Public Prosection Jane Frances Abodo in the Basajjabalaba brothers’ fraud case.
Ssemakadde raised his stance in the morality war against the DPP who he accuses of attempting to kill a corruption case against businessman Hassan Basajjabalaba and his brother Muzamir Basajjabalaba.
Ssemakadde has already won round one by forcing Ms. Abodo to reinstate charges against Basajjabalaba that she had dropped illegally. Ssemakadde, through his LBT civil society agency, raised a red flag and Abodo made a u-turn reinstating the charges against the Basajjabalaba brothers.
He accused “an imprudent charlatan”, Abodo for bundling “hot air unlawful, inconsistent lies” together in an attempt to convince the public on why she had withdrawn and reinstated the Basajjabalaba charges.
He said Abodo is either fearful of Basajjabalaba or she was bribed and that the action of Abodo to free the Basajjabalaba brothers gave them an opportunity to escape from or change ownership of their property.
Basajjabalaba brothers were committed for trial in the High Court on three counts of forgery of a judicial document, uttering a false document, and conspiracy to evade tax law. They allegedly forged a court order that enabled them to be paid Shs.142bn after cancellation by KCC their contracts to manage markets and the City square.
Part of the contents of the forged order was that his payments would go free of taxation and when URA attempted to tax him, he went sued the tax collectors only to open a Pandora box which would later reveal all the forgery committed.
“It was blatantly imprudent to ignore other legitimate prosecutorial options and instead withdraw the case, as you did, on the pretext of concluding the alleged last-minute investigation of indefinite or unspecified purpose, methodology and or duration, “Ssemakadde told the DPP in a letter he sent him today.
Accordingly, we hereby notify you of our intention to invoke the intervention of the High Court to challenge your unlawful use of the discretionary power of the DPP to enter nolle prosequi in relation to the Basajjabalaba case, Ssemakadde said.
And gave yet another ultimatum on or before 20 December 2022 for Abodo to show cause why she wouldn’t be prosecuted for attempting to bungle the case against Basajja.
LBT intends to sue Abodo for abuse of office and wilful failure to comply with the lawful directives of the President and orders of the superior courts.
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