Kwoyelo asks court to summon DPP over refusal to grant him certificate
Former LRA rebel Thomas Kwoyelo. By ANTHONY WESAKA
Former Lord’s Resistance Army rebel Thomas Kwoyelo has asked court to summon the Director of Public Prosecutions to show why he should not be arrested and committed to Luzira Prison for refusing to grant him an amnesty certificate despite a court order directing them to do so.
Besides Mr Richard Buteera, Mr Kwoyelo also wants the chairman Amnesty Commission, Mr Peter Onega, to appear before court to show the same cause.
Through his lawyers, Mr Kwoyelo filed the application before the High Court in Kampala yesterday.
By press time, the registrar of the court had not fixed a date in which the DPP and Mr Onega were to appear.
Mr Kwoyelo was battling more than 53 charges of murder, willful killing, kidnap with intent to kill, aggravated robbery, and destruction of property resulting from the war in northern Uganda.
Yesterday’s application arises from the January 25 ruling by High Court judge Vincent Zehurikize, who ordered Mr Buteera and Mr Onega to grant Mr Kwoyelo his amnesty certificate, saying he qualified for one.
Earlier ruling
Prior to the ruling, Mr Kwoyelo through his lawyers had asked the court to compel the DPP and the Amnesty Commission to grant him the amnesty certificate following an earlier Constitutional Court ruling that ordered so on September 22 last year.
The ruling also required that the International Crimes Division of the High Court that was sitting in Gulu ceases to try Mr Kwoyelo immediately.
According to Mr Kwoyelo’s lawyers, Mr Buteera and Mr Onega had not complied with the court orders.
In a related application filed before the same court, the Attorney General (AG) has asked the court to stay Judge Zehurikize’s ruling, stating that they have appealed against it.
Mr Lino Anguzu, a senior state attorney, in his affidavit to support the stay of the execution of judge Zehurikize’s orders says: “It would render the appeal useless if Kwoyleo is released before it’s heard and determined….”
Mr Anguzu says in his affidavit that if Kwoyelo is released, he would rejoin the LRA.
By Anthony Wesaka, Daily Monitor
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