To many, an accusation for a murder case comes with grief and show of concern about the bereaved family and/or the accused themselves.
This was however not the case for the trio; Mathew and Joseph Kanyamunyu and Cynthia Munwangari who were remanded on Monday to Luzira accused of the murder of child activist Kenneth Watman Akena.
Activists and a cross section of citizens have stormed social media expressing their discontent with the smiling gesture of the accused persons, laughing in court and not showing any sign of being bothered.
Chris Obore, the Director of Communications at Parliament and a renowned activist wrote;
“In Uganda, someone is accused of murder and they are paraded in court. But they appear in court smiling and even laughing! Either they already know that the court process is of no consequence or they naturally don’t care about murder. Even if one is innocent , the fact that someone died and the fact that you are accused “falsely” should not be matters of smiling and laughing. The behavior of suspects in Uganda can tell sometimes what has been going behind the scenes.”
The controversial gesture happened on Tuesday while the Kanyamunyu brothers and their co-accused, Cynthia Munwangari were being paraded before Nakawa court presided over by Grade One magistrate Noah Sajjabi.
Ajab Bua Johnny commented: “Ofcourse they are laughing because they very well know that at Luzira they are entitled to executive private wards with all amenities he will wish to have at anytime of their will. I’m sure that includes weekend visits outside the prison premises. Anytime soon when the fire has cooled, they are going to get bail and that’ll be the vey end of their story with Akena gone and another burning issue trending at that time to come, most Ugandans will not care a thing.”
“Although the accused didn’t appear shaken justice at least can be said to be taking its slow course,” Okano EMar said.
Achieng Clare also said: “I saw the suspects laughing in court. The authorities better not mess this up. Otherwise we will believe the justice system of Uganda is hopeless..”
On the initial judgment day, Ms. Munwangari arrived aboard a police patrol pick up at 12:24pm while the Kanyamunyu brothers arrived at 2:53pm aboard a police van as well.
ALSO READ: Acholi MPs hire private investigator for grief-stricken Kenneth Akena family
The accused were represented by Lawyers Grace Karuhanga and Ivan Kyateka on behalf of MacDosman Kabega the official lawyer representing the accused.
Since the court had no jurisdiction to hear their case, the presiding judge refeered them to the High court and remanded them to Luzira prison.
“You will not take plea today, but you will do it at the High Court. You will be remanded to Luzira prison until December 6, 2016” Magistrate Noah Sajjabi said.
Despite all that transpired in court, the accused were seen regularly consulting one another with smiles – a rare gesture in court.
Mr Kanyamunyu, his girlfriend Munwangari, a Burundian national were arrested on November 13 by Police and detained briefly at Wandegeya Police before they were transferred to Jinja Road Police.
Subsequently, the Police arrested Kanyamunyu’s brothers, Joseph Kanyamunyu and Moses Kanyamunyu on Thursday night on suspicion that they could have received the killer gun either at Nakasero Hospital or Norvik Hospital on the fateful day.
The prosecution alleges that on November, 12, on Kampala-Jinja highway near Malik car bond opposite Uganda Manufacturers Association in Nakawa Division, with malice aforethought, caused the death of Akena.
ALSO READ: Andrew Mwenda trying to free suspected killer Kanyamunyu, says TVO
By Sadiki Adams
