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News desk 30/7/2026
The High Court Criminal Division has dismissed a bail application filed by city lawyer Erias Lukwago, ruling that it had been overtaken by events following his committal to the High Court for trial on a charge of misprision of treason.
In a ruling delivered today through the Judiciary's Electronic Court Case Information Management System (ECCMIS), Justice David Matovu declined to release Lukwago on bail, holding that the application was filed in relation to Makindye Chief Magistrate's Court Criminal Case No. 0762 of 2026, which ceased to exist after the accused was committed to the High Court on July 16, 2026.
The judge further ruled that no High Court judge had yet been assigned the newly committed criminal session case, making it inappropriate for him to determine the bail application. The court directed the Deputy Registrar of the Criminal Division to expedite the allocation of Lukwago's criminal session case to a judge for further case management.
Justice Matovu also found shortcomings in the medical evidence relied upon by the applicant, ruling that although the reports from Mulago National Referral Hospital detailed Lukwago's health challenges, they were not accompanied by certification from an authorised medical officer of the Uganda Prisons Service confirming that prison medical facilities were incapable of providing the required treatment.
Lukwago, one of the defence lawyers in the ongoing treason trial involving retired Colonel Dr. Kiiza Besigye and others, was charged on June 17, 2026, before the Makindye Chief Magistrate's Court with misprision of treason, an offence he denied.