Dr Pius Bigirimana, the Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Judiciary has not been in office since Monday. Therefore, there is no way he could have harassed, arrested and briefly detained a messenger who had delivered a letter to his office as alleged by an online publication.
This website has learned that Dr Bigirimana will return to office on June 5.
The media report published Monday claimed that the PS at about 9:30am while at his office mistreated a MUBS student identified as Derrick Ahabyona who had been sent to deliver a letter from lawyers representing the interdicted judiciary driver Stanley Kisambira.
“Lawyers from the Center for Legal Aid claim that at around 9:30 this Monday morning, one Derrick Ahabyona was “unjustifiably obstructed, harassed, arrested, briefly detained and later viciously interrogated by Mr Bigirimana in his office. Ahabyona is a final year economics student at MUBS who, according to the lawyers, is scheduled to sit one of his semester-end examinations tomorrow, Tuesday. He had reportedly come to serve by hand a hard copy of a communication to Bigirimana’s office at the High Court Building,” the media report suggests.
Isaac Ssemakadde, the legal counsel for Kisambira claims that the PS confiscated and destroyed all 8 original copies of the letter dated 29 May 2023, that was meant to be served to Bigirimana and other judicial officers.
“The PS has not been in office and he will return on 5th June. So which office did he tear papers from? As far as I know he has one office at the Judiciary head offices,” said an official.
“This is pure witch-hunt, lies and concoction by the media and the lawyer,” an official added.
When contacted to substantiate if he had indeed torn the 8 page letter, Bigirimana wondered… “I am not around, which papers are they talking about.”
Kisambira is facing charges of promoting hate speech. The driver is accused of putting out an audio protesting low pay, and saying that he could commit murder-suicide by ramming into a truck, killing his principal and bodyguard and himself. He has since been released on bail by the Standards, Utilities and Wildlife court in Kampala.
