Prominent activist granted bail

The Buganda Road Chief Magistrate's Court has granted a 1m shilling cash ($279) bail to Dr Sarah Bireete, the executive director of the Centre for Constitutional Governance, who has been on remand for three weeks over alleged violations of the Data Protection and Privacy Act of 2019. According to The Independent Uganda, Magistrate Winnie Nankya Jatiko ruled that the charges Bireete faces are bailable and ordered her to present substantial sureties. Each of the four sureties was ordered to execute a non-cash bond of 10m shillings ($2 791). Bireete’s sureties include her brother Joseph Beyanga, former leader of opposition Winnie Kiiza, Joseph Ochieno, who describes himself as the president of the Uganda People’s Congress, and former Ugandan ambassador to the US Edith Ssempala. The magistrate, however, imposed additional conditions, ordering Bireete to deposit her passport with the court and barring her from travelling outside the country without prior court approval. The case has been adjourned to 27 February. Bireete was arrested on 2 January and held at Luzira Prison. She is accused of unlawfully obtaining and disclosing voters’ information without the consent of the Electoral Commission. She has denied all the charges. During her appearance in court last week, Bireete, through her lawyers led by Jude Byamukama and Uganda Law Society vice-president Anthony Asiimwe, applied for bail. The defence argued that she is suffering from hypertension and submitted medical documents from Platinum Hospital in support of the claim. However, Chief State Attorney Joan Keko opposed the application, contending that the proposed sureties were not credible and lacked sufficient proof of financial capacity to meet bail requirements should Bireete abscond.