The Fatboy Show Presenter, James Onen aka Fatboy expressed dissatisfaction with the government alleging that some cases filed in court lack sufficient evidence hence later dismissed implying misuse of taxpayers' money.
According to Fatboy, the government uses taxpayers’ money to file these cases but most of them are dropped but it is unfortunate that no one holds it accountable.
“I find it offensive that most of these court cases that the state files against various individuals are dropped due to technicalities, my money as a taxpayer is being wasted. If you are to charge and prosecute someone, I would hope that you have done your homework with due diligence before it is presented before the magistrate.”
Fatboy’s argument follows a court case filed by the government against one Jamil Ssekyondwa who allegedly circulated a message about President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni declaring him dead on July 7, 2021 using his mobile phone.
Olive Najjuma, fatboy’s Co-host said, the practice of dropping court cases due to failure to provide evidence not only annoys the taxpayers but also the person being accused. She wondered why the judiciary that is said to have a number of pending cases does not pay close attention to the crucial ones.
“The Judiciary has a backlog of cases that haven't seen the light of the day in court because of limited time. Why not concentrate on those?” asked Olive.
About the nature of the offence, the duo wondered whether the Government was indirectly using spyware on its citizens.
“Is this Government’s way of telling us that we are actually being spied on? How does a third party get to know the message sent to someone?” Olive asked.
The release of Jamil Ssekyondwa by the chief Magistrate’s court in Luwero on March 24, 2022 sparked off this huge debate between the two presenters. Magistrate Samuel Munobe dismissed the case saying the charge sheet was defective.
Ssekyondwa first appeared before court on July 15, 2021 on charges of offensive communication contrary to section 25 of the Computer Misuse Act of 2011 after he used his phone on July 7, 2021 to write and send messages about the President’s alleged death.
The Fatboy show is hosted by James Onen aka Fatboy, Olive and Sarah every weekday from 6am to 10am on RX Radio.