Court dismisses case of inciting violence against MP Ssekikubo

MASAKA, UGANDA: Court in Masaka has dismissed a case against which Lwemiyaga County MP, Mr Theodore Ssekikubo had been accused of inciting violence.

Ssekikubo had been accused of leading herdsmen on January 3, 2020 to take cattle to Lwemiyaga Market which had been reportedly closed following the outbreak of foot- and -mouth disease in the area.

However, the Masaka Chief Magistrate Court, Mr. Charles Yeteise on Wednesday afternoon dismissed the case after the prosecution failed to adduce enough evidence against the MP.

The State had also accused the MP of mobilizing cattle traders in his constituent to attack businesses of milk traders who were operating freely.

Mr Ssekikubo’s supporters reportedly did this in retaliation to police’s crackdown on livestock farmers who had made several attempts to take their cattle to Lwemiyaga cattle market for sale, but were blocked by police due to an outbreak of Foot-and -Mouth Disease(FMD) yet the milk sellers were freely doing business.

The defense lawyer led by Mr Alexander Lule, asked court also to drop another case of 2010 where Mr Ssekikubo was also accused of inciting violence during the National Resistance Movement (NRM) primaries because the state had failed to prosecute the case.

The dismissal of the case in which Ssekikubo is also said to have poured down milk and destroyed other dairy products of herdsmen on 3 January 2020, at Lwemiyaga market, followed the state prosecutor’s submission that some of the witnesses in the case had snubbed court summonses.