KAMPALA – The government has been dragged to court over the September 30th letter by the President ordering to release suspects facing charges of idle and disorderly.
In his lawsuit filed on October 2 before the High Court, Male Mabirizi, a lawyer sued the Attorney General seeking orders to quash the said directives saying that it is illegal, unreasonable, irrational, defeat commonsense and issued in a procedure which was improper.
Mabirizi says that the president and the Inspector General of Police have no powers to direct the police force not to enforce the laws of Uganda, discontinuing criminal prosecutions, the release of persons arrested by police and how the IGP should execute his/her duties.
He says a police circular dated October 1, 2019, signed by the IGP Okoth-Ochola to police units communicated that the president had directed that no person should be arrested for committing an offence of idle and disorderly and that those arrested should be immediately released and prosecution discontinued all convicts charged by Kampala Capital City Authority and in prison for failure to pay a fine of one million to be immediately released from prison.
Mabirizi says that it is fair, equitable and in the interest of protecting the rule of law in Uganda that his application be allowed for declarations, orders of mandamus.
According to the court documents, Mabirizi also wants a permanent injunction restraining any Uganda government official or agency from implementing the directives of the president and IGP prohibiting the arrest of persons suspected to have committed an offence of Idle and disorderly.
He is also seeking general damages for inconveniences caused and costs of the application.
