The Deputy Chief Administrative Officer of the Forum for Democratic Change Augustine Ojobile and Robert Mayanja has been acquitted of common nuisance charges by Buganda Road Magistrates Court.
The decision was made by the Grade One Magistrate Fidelis Otwao. The charges stem from their protest held in November 2018 when they carried pig heads to the Central Police Station in Kampala protesting what they termed as the rot in the Bank of Uganda that had reportedly resulted in the closure of a number of commercial banks in the country for many years.
The activists claimed that corruption in the Central bank had been the sole ingredient for the closure of commercial banks in Uganda over the years because it reportedly mismanaged them and made erroneous decisions that led to their closure.
With fresh pig heads tied around their necks and stinking blood oozing across their white T-shirts, Ojobile and Mayanja walked through the streets of Kampala to the police in a protest that was spearheaded by their pressure group known as the Jobless Youth.
One pig head had a placard bearing the name of the late Central Bank governor Emmanuel Tumusiime Mutebile, and the other of his former Deputy Louis Kasekende.
The protest at CPS came a few days after another that was staged at the Central Bank where two piglets were dumped bearing the name of Juma Kisaame (a Muslim), the former managing director of DFCU bank.
Ojobile and Mayanja were arrested and taken to Buganda Road Court on charges of common nuisance and the prosecution adduced evidence from five witnesses who included police officers and Muslims who were reportedly angered by the protest.
However, when asked to defend themselves over the allegations, the duo that didn't have legal representation chose to keep quiet as their defence and let the Court make its decision based on what the Prosecution witnesses had testified.
In a Judgement read today by Otwao, he indicated that the evidence from the Prosecution witnesses is wanting because none of the people alleged to have been annoyed by the actions of the activists who testified in the case or recorded a statement with police.
According to Otwao, the testimonies were based on what the witnesses were feeling as individuals and that there were no abusive statements on the pig heads that the Prosecution had indicated which would cause annoyance, save for putting the names of people only.
As such, the Court has ruled that such testimonies cannot be relied on to convict a person because the Prosecution has failed to prove that there was common injury, danger to the public or destruction of property.
Consequently, the Magistrate has acquitted Mayanja and Ojobile on the charges and directed that each of them starts on the process to seek a refund of the 500,000 shillings that each had paid to be released on bail.
