Ugandans last Friday were left in awe when two Courts- Appellant and Constitutional ruled quashing Geoffrey Kazinda’s sentence and further nullified all corruption proceedings against the former Principal accountant in Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) .
However, the dubious release of disgraced Kazinda has left the judiciary with egg on it’s face as questions increase over how he secured freedom.
Mr. Kazinda has since 2012 been facing various charges which include; constructive possession of financial instruments, forging receipts and invoices, false accounting, making fraudulent payments, conspiracy to secure money outside authorized disbursement procedures, and living a standard of life beyond his known source of income.
In 2013 he was convicted and sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for abuse of office, two years for forgery and two years for unlawful possession of government stores by Justice David Wangutsi.
But in 2014, Mr. Kazinda appealed to the Constitutional Court seeking, among other orders, court to declared that the act by the DPP to split charges against him and subsequently having him charged variously for offences built on what his lawyers said was the same facts, which had earlier been decided by court, as unconstitutional and a violation of his rights.
In a 3-2 majority judgment, the Court declared that the manner in which Kazinda was brought to court without giving him a chance to handover and to appear for audit and in Parliament was unlawful and contravened Article 28, 44 and 17 of the Constitution.
The Court held that the acts of the DPP and the Police in endless investigations in respect of Kazinda are illegal and an abuse of the laws provided for under the Constitution.
In the lead judgment delivered last Friday, Justice Stephen Musota held that Mr. Kazinda proved his case and ordered the stay of proceedings against him. He directed the Anti-corruption Court to immediately discharge Kazinda on the current cases and any future cases whose offences are founded on same facts.
Justice Musota was supported by justices Geoffrey Kiryabwire and Cheborion Barishaki.
Justices Kenneth Kakuru and Ezekiel Muhanguzi disagreed with their colleagues.
In his dissenting ruling, Justice Kakuru said Kazinda still had a chance to plead the same objections at trial in the Anti-Corruption Court and said that his application did not require constitutional interpretation.
But the ruling by Justice Musota, Cheborion and Barishaki has raised questions how Kazinda could be declared an innocent man amid a heap of evidence which the state availed to court leading to his conviction in the lower court.
This website has learnt that the top administration of the judiciary has since been rattled by the rulings.
However, no official in the judiciary was willing to speak about this matter.
“For example, Kazinda caused financial loss to government which refunded the money he embezzled. Secondly, the evidence of forging the Permanent Secretary’s signature was availed and proved as substantial. Thirdly, witnesses pinned him for misappropriating the money. It is therefore quite disturbing to hear that he is a free man,” a concerned Ugandan who wished not to be mentioned said.
She said that this ruling demonizes Ugandans who have had a lot of trust in the courts.
“Where shall we ran to?” she questioned.
Norbert Mao, an opposition leader and a stakeholder in Northern Uganda who could have benefitted from the donor funded projects whose money was swindled by Kazinda told this website that, “I totally disagree with the ruling. Instead of releasing him, probably we should have seen more investigations since he was battling more charges. The Auditor General’s report was clear.”
A couple of corruption activists condemned the ruling saying it would set a bad precedent.
Cissy Kagaba, the executive director of Anti- Corruption Coalition Uganda (ACCU) who leads corruption in Uganda said Kazinda’s case had a lot more gymnastics and doesn’t deserve to be released at this time.
But the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) spokesperson Jackline Okwi says that the office will appeal to the Supreme Court the decision of the Court of Appeal acquitting Mr. Kazinda and two others for embezzlement and conspiracy to defraud.
Kazinda’s acquittal leaves nothing but mud thrown to the Temple of Justice.
