By KT Reporter
The Uganda Law Society (ULS) has raised concerns over what they term as punitive and discriminatory bail conditions being handed down by judicial officers across the country. Speaking at the weekly press briefing in Kampala, Public Interest Lawyer Amos Kuuku decried the growing trend of courts imposing excessive cash bail, even for pretrial release. He said the practice contradicts constitutional provisions on the presumption of innocence and equality before the law.
“The use of money bail as a primary condition for release is a colonial hangover and an injustice that must be dismantled,” Kuuku said. “One never knows when they’ll become a victim of this system.” Kuuku cited the recent case of fellow lawyer Eron Kiiza, who on April 4, 2025, was granted a cash bail of 20 million shillings by Justice Michael Elubu after being convicted of contempt by the General Court Martial. Kuuku noted that the same judge had previously ruled in favour of lowering bail from 30 to 3 million shillings for opposition figure Dr. Kizza Besigye in a similar case.
“As lawyers, we can no longer advise clients on the likely outcome of such bail hearings because there’s no consistency,” he said. Kuuku also pointed to other cases such as that of human rights lawyer Nicholas Opiyo, who was asked to pay 15 million shillings in cash bail before money laundering charges against him were later dropped by the Director of Public Prosecutions.
He argued that bail—particularly involving money—should be considered only at the tail end of trial, and described the requirement for large cash deposits as unconstitutional and discriminatory.
Kuuku also narrated the struggles of indigent clients under Probono representation. In one case, a woman in Kaberamaido had to wait for her family to sell goats to raise a 100,000-shilling cash bail. In another, a man in Luweero was held for 18 months after failing to raise 1.5 million shillings set as bail. He criticized judicial officers for shifting the burden onto accused persons to challenge bail conditions, instead of taking into account their financial capacity upfront.
“There is no justice when bail becomes a punishment. The prisons are now holding over 70,000 suspects, yet they were built for only 25,000. We are fueling congestion with pretrial detentions,” he added. According to the Judiciary’s 2023 report, 2 billion shillings were refunded out of 26 billion collected from bail deposits, raising concerns over the growing commercialisation of justice.
Kuuku further expressed disappointment that the judiciary failed to involve stakeholders, including the Legal Aid Service Providers Network (LASPNET), in the drafting of bail guidelines despite an earlier promise by Principal Judge Dr. Flavian Zeija.
Also weighing in on the matter was Eddy Nangulu, ULS Representative for Eastern Uganda, who quoted Eron Kiiza’s recent social media post: “Detainees say judges and lawyers need to first go to prison to understand what is at stake.” Nangulu added, “One of my Probono clients has been in prison since August 2024 simply because he couldn’t raise 1.5 million shillings. Bail is now being used as a pretrial punishment, eroding the right to innocence.”
He appealed to the judiciary to show empathy: “You can’t keep hiding behind colonial-era doctrines. Justice must be meaningful and accessible.” Professor Christopher Mbaziira, a constitutional law lecturer at Makerere University, also raised concern over what he termed as a crisis of inconsistency in judicial decisions. “We see blatant disregard for precedent, even by the same judicial officers, without proper justification,” he said. The Uganda Law Society’s call for reform comes as the High Court Criminal Division prepares to rule on a bail application for Dr. Kizza Besigye and co-accused Hajji Obed Lutaale on Friday-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
