Lawmakers and human rights defenders have condemned ministers for backing what they have called selfish laws that seek to curtail freedoms and take away the discretion of judicial officers to grant or deny bail.
Those against the Executive decision to tinker with bail for capital offenders have warned that when the dust finally settles, “the architects of those laws will be caught by the same laws but it will be too late” to make amends.
On Friday, Cabinet endorsed criminal justice reforms, among them amendments to the 1995 Constitution and the Police Act, to deny suspects on capital offences bail or police bond.
Cabinet sources singled out suspects on murder, rape, robbery and treason charges, among others, as the main target for the proposed reforms.
The Cabinet meeting was chaired by President Museveni, and ministers one by one were given opportunity to give their views after the President asked Attorney General, Kiryowa Kiwanuka to guide Cabinet on how to proceed on the proposed constitutional amendments. END
