RX Radio Presenter Olive Najjuma has claimed that Kakwenza’s sureties must have been aware of his plan to leave the country despite court rejecting his request to have his passport returned to him.
She made the statements following the Buganda Magistrates Court sitting yesterday meant to hear Kakwenza Rukirabashaija’s case which Kakwenza and his sureties absconded. This prompted the State Prosecutor Joan Keko to ask the court to issue an arrest warrant against the novelist who fled the country into exile in Germany.
Kakwenza’s sureties include Lawyer Julius Galisonga, National Unity Platform Secretary General David Louis Rubongoya, Kololo Secondary School Teacher Anna Ashaba and Activist Job Kiiza who all claimed to have been engaged with other activities at the time of the sitting.
“You can't sympathize with the sureties because they must have known that he had a plan to skip bail and flee the country. They were not in court for that reason in as much as they claimed to have been somewhere else,” Olive assured.
However, Fatboy argued that sometimes a suspect may request one to be their surety till they get bail without revealing their hidden intentions.
Still, Olive maintained that when it comes to political cases such as Kakwenza’s, the sureties which included opposition members such as Rubongoya and Galisonga who is a lawyer that has worked on similar cases, it was out of the question that they didn't know the novelist’s ulterior motives.
Chief Magistrate Daniel Singiza thereafter issued a warning to the sureties saying they would pay a sum of 10,000,000 million shillings each. Commenting on the penalties to be imposed on the sureties, Olive’s Cohost James Onen aka Fatboy reasoned that the money should be collected by Kakwenza’s supporters, blaming opposition members for rendering no support to their counterparts when in need.
However, Olive said that sometimes, Government critics are aware of the outcomes of their actions even after witnessing what has happened to similar activists. “If you've seen other people tortured while in detention yet you choose to take the same path, you're not really innocent as far as what happens to you is concerned because you had an idea of the consequences.”
Kakwenza Rukirabashaija was arrested on December 28, 2021 from his home in Kisaasi and was presented to court on January 21, 2022 over charges of offensive communication on Twitter directed towards Commander of Land Forces and first son Muhoozi Kainerugaba and President Yoweri Museveni.
The Fatboy show is hosted by James Onen aka Fatboy, Olive and Sarah every weekday from 6am to 10am on RX Radio.