Kampala, Uganda: Jailed former Office of the Prime Minister Principal Accountant Geoffrey Kazinda has accused the Attorney General of fraudulently sneaking an appeal before the Supreme Court in a bid to block his release from prison, arguing that the appeal was filed out of time and without the authority of court.
Kazinda contends that the appeal challenging his release was lodged outside the constitutionally prescribed 60-day timeframe and without an order from the Supreme Court either validating the filing or enlarging the time within which it could be filed. He argues that in the absence of such an order, the appeal is legally incompetent and ought to be struck out.
According to Kazinda, the actions of the Attorney General’s office have unlawfully kept him behind bars despite what he describes as clear court orders issued in his favour. He insists that the continued reliance on the appeal amounts to a deliberate abuse of court process.
“This appeal was filed out of time and without the authority of court. It is fraudulent and cannot stand,” the former OPM accountant argued in his filings.
Kazinda, currently serving a 25-year prison sentence for corruption-related offences, maintains that the sentence is illegal, and that it was imposed after the Constitutional Court had already issued an injunction stopping his continued prosecution, rendering any subsequent proceedings unlawful.
He further contends that but for the pending appeal, which he insists is incompetent, he would already be a free man. Kazinda has therefore petitioned the Supreme Court to strike out the appeal and order his immediate release from prison.
The former accountant has also faulted the Supreme Court for declining to first hear his application seeking to dismiss the appeal, instead prioritising an application by the Attorney General seeking to validate it. He notes that even after hearing the Attorney General’s application, the court did not pronounce itself on the validity of the appeal.
Kazinda argues that the absence of a ruling validating the appeal means there is currently no competent appeal against him before the Supreme Court.
He is expected to appear before the Supreme Court on February 12, when the justices will determine whether the failure by now-retired Justice Ezekiel Muhanguzi to sign the Constitutional Court judgment had a fatal effect on the case.
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