It all began in December 2005 when FDC members Jack Sabiiti and Winnie Byanyima unleashed a verbal bombshell that left the bench paralysed. They accused Justice Remmy Kasule and Deputy Chief Justice Laetitia Kikonyogo of pocketing a Shs300 million bribe to impair justice by disfavouring opposition politician Dr. Kizza Besigye who at the time was in jail facing rape, treason and terrorism charges in the High Court and the military Court Marshal. But more scandalous was the added implication that president Museveni had masterminded the bribe.
It sounded too outrageous to be true. Many questions hit my mind:
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Is it honestly likely that the president can direct an intelligent officer from Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI) to execute such a 'carrot' in a technological age where even the ground has eyes and ears?
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Can an honorable daughter of the great founding fathers of our judiciary who prides in more than 30years experience of administering justice both in her home and at the courts barter her sanity [by soiling the purity of the judiciary] for a few million shillings?
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Can the indomitable Kasule be stupid as to disgrace the empire of the laws and social order itself?
I found it beyond belief that the learned friends of superior courts of record would even contemplate hurting the integrity of the judiciary. It was evident that the cunning claque headed by Winnie Byanyima and Jack Sabiiti, seized by the fear of their leader marching to the guillotine what with those criminal charges against him, had opted to parade lies as an indirect way of influencing the two high court judges from handling the Besigye case.
You must remember this was the time FDC was scheming to uproot NRM from State House. They had gone around claiming intimidation and military interference from the ruling regime hoping to reap political empathy from Ugandans but ended affirming what some of us had long feared: that FDC evidently had an obscure sense of political direction. Their leader had betrayed the regime he served many years, lashing at it using a wrong forum. He was let off the hook in the spirit of comradeship yet he deployed his troops to ejaculate wild claims; an ugly tactic of the end justifying the means.
This approach was highly contemptible and I couldn't wait for Winnie Byanyima and Jack Sabiiti to assemble evidence to back their filthy claims or face the blazing fire of the rule of law. Turns out that my instincts were after all right, for, when the two were sued for defamation and libel, Winnie's lawyer was swift to ask the court to drop criminal proceedings against his client claiming she has diplomatic immunity. I couldn't suppress a smile.
The next thing I heard the hunter had stuck his tail in an electric socket –a fix that demanded an act of absolute contrition. They apologised for their "unfortunate utterances" and withdrew their baseless accusations against the judges. But even that could do little in redeeming a reputation they had idiotically desecrated. To further expiate their guilt, the embattled politicians begged the man of God –former Archbishop of Kampala Emmanuel Cardinal Wamala –to help talk peace with the judges. If you read the
Daily Monitor yesterday, you already know that Winnie, now a director with the UN Development Programme, and Sabiiti, the FDC treasurer, have been forced to cough Shs35million in damages.
What defies common sense is why a liberated and sophisticated woman like Winnie behaved the way she did. In the end, she and her partner in crime have turned out fools and villains that deserve no mercy in the house of justice. The crackling events that led to this climax should teach opposition politicians to always think first before opening their traps.
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