Court Martial Attorney – GEN. KAZINI TRAUMATISED

Court Martial Attorney – GEN. KAZINI TRAUMATISED

Written by Ssemujju Ibrahim Nganda

Having survived a possible life sentence last week, Maj. Gen. Kazini has retreated to his farm in Mbarara to recuperate from the trauma. His hope for permanent freedom now lies in the Constitutional Court through which he is challenging the authority of the General Court Martial.

In June 2003, when Kevin Aliro, the late Managing Editor of The Observer asked Maj. Gen. James Kazini about the possibility of being sent to jail, he replied: “I am ready to go to the gallows. Whoever thinks that they are going to force Kazini to fear the gallows – do they know how many frontlines I have been to?”
But that was 2003.

Last week, the battle-hardened general was gripped by fear and reportedly traumatised, after it became a big possibility that Lt. Gen. Ivan Koreta, the Chairman of the General Court Martial, could jail him for life, having found him guilty of disobeying lawful orders from his commander-in-chief.

Kazini was accused of disobeying President Museveni’s orders to stop moving troops in large numbers—a move that was later interpreted as a plot to topple Museveni’s government.

Judgment in his case was to be delivered on April 16. However, the general who has braved a grueling trial since 2003 and was even briefly jailed after being convicted by the same court of causing financial loss of Shs 60 million to the government, managed to secure a last-minute court order blocking the judgment.

When he finally obtained an order from the Constitutional Court stopping Koreta from sentencing him, Kazini returned home an exhausted man.

Family sources said Kazini was traumatised all-week having read The Observer’s Monday story suggesting that he could be jailed for life (See: ‘Kazini faces life in jail over coup’; The Observer, April 13-15). It seems Kazini didn’t realise all along that he was actually being prosecuted for allegedly plotting to topple President Museveni.
Even his lawyers had not noticed that the state had linked their client’s reported unauthorised movement of soldiers to a plot to overthrow the government.

Luckily for him, his lawyers were able to win a last-minute Constitutional Court application staying the judgment pending the court’s decision on the trial itself.
Through his lawyers; Abaine – Buregyeya & Co. Advocates, Kakuru & Co. Advocates and Rwaganika & Co. Advocates, Kazini wants the Constitutional Court to rule that Museveni improperly established and constituted the current General Court Martial under the Deputy Chief of Defence Forces, Ivan Koreta.

Kazini says that during the trial, Koreta refused to show him evidence and exhibits that prosecution relied upon to pin him for his lawyers to react to. The exhibits include the 2003 report of the UPDF High Command Probe Committee on ghost soldiers. The report was compiled by Amama Mbabazi, Gen. Salim Saleh and Gen. David Tinyefuza.

All the cases Kazini is facing stem from this report and he has been convicted in one case already, and sentenced to three years in jail. He was, however, granted bail while court prepares to hear his appeal. Kazini now wants this three-year jail sentence set aside by the Constitutional Court.

The general won round one when on April 9, Justices S.G. Engwau, Amos Twinomujuni, C.K Byamugisha, Steven Kavuma and Augustine Nshimye rejected a call by the Attorney General to dismiss his application seeking a constitutional interpretation of his trial.
Section 133 of the UPDF Act 2005 imposes a death penalty on any officer who disobeys a lawful order that results in failure of operation or loss of life, and life imprisonment in other circumstances.

SUBVERSION

In December 2003, President Museveni committed a dozen senior officers, including Kazini, to the General Court Martial on various charges, especially creation and maintainance of “ghost” soldiers on the army payroll.

Others included Brig. Nakibus Lakara (former chief of staff), Brig. Henry Tumukunde (former director general of ISO), and Brig. Andrew Guti who was later pardoned and even promoted.

In the message that accompanied the officers to the General Court Martial, Museveni hinted on subversion, although the Minister of Defence at the time, Amama Mbabazi, denied it.

But as we reported on Monday last week, a report by a committee of the High Command questioned the motive behind Kazini’s creation of the 409 brigade in West Nile that was reportedly answerable to Kazini directly when he was Army Commander between November 2001 and June 2003.

The High Command Committee recommended further investigations into the motive behind Kazini’s semi-autonomous brigade.
Indeed further investigations were carried out by another committee headed by Gen. David Tinyefuza. It appears the decision to prosecute Kazini and others was reached after Tinyefuza submitted his report to Museveni.

KAZINI’S RISE

In military circles, Kazini was regarded a semi-illiterate officer whose loyalty to the commander-in-chief earned him favours. But his closeness to the commander- in-chief bothered many senior officers.

One time, according to a senior officer, Kazini left officers at the Army headquarters in Bombo in awe when he arrived in part of President Museveni’s official motorcade. Kazini was then Army Chief of Staff, deployed in Kasese to fight ADF rebels.

He had been summoned by the President for a meeting at State House, Nakasero. He flew to Kampala in a chopper. After the meeting, Kazini wanted to go to Bombo, but didn’t have a vehicle at his disposal. He asked President Museveni to lend him part of his convoy and the President obliged. When presidential vehicles and guards entered Bombo, senior officers thought the commander-in-chief had paid a surprise visit only to see Kazini disembark.

It was not surprising when the fast-rising Kazini was eventually appointed Army Commander. Because of his “proximity” to the commander-in-chief, Kazini became the quickest route to a promotion, and those clamouring for ranks needed to be in his good books.

So influential was Kazini that he one time got the President to promote Lt. Col. Segamwenge for being “a good fighter”, yet the officer was at the time detained at Makindye Military Police. Kazini then used the promotion to get Segamwenge released, claiming that the President had ordered this release.
Other beneficiaries of his generous promotion agenda included; Lt. Col. Dura Mawa, Lt. Col. Paul Lokech, and Maj. Nuwe Kyepaka.

NEAR MUTINY

There was a near mutiny in Bombo over these promotions, prompting the Chief of Staff at the time, Brig. Stephen Kashaka, to convene a meeting during which officers accused Kazini of not being even handed. But Kazini maintained that the promoted officers had performed well during ‘Operation Safe Haven’ to flash out ADF rebels from DR Congo.
This is what Col. Geoffrey Muheesi told probe committee: “There were accelerated promotions beyond imagination, like the promotions of Nuwe and Mawa. I could not understand how a person like Nuwe could move from Lieutenant to Major within one year, Mawa from Lieutenant to Captain and to Lieutenant Colonel in one year. [I], Muheesi, became a Captain in 1988 and became a Lieutenant Colonel in 1996. And I was not a bad officer either.”

After promoting them, Kazini went on to appoint these officers loyal to him in strategic positions. Dura Mawa became commander of the Alpine Brigade in the Rwenzoris. A brigade has three battalions, each with 700 soldiers. Nuwe was appointed deputy commander of the Military Police, but he was in effect more influential than his boss.

Col. Sula Ssemakula (RIP), a very close friend of Kazini, was appointed commandant of Bihanga Training School, while Col. Poteli Kivuna, another Kazini loyalist, became the Commanding Officer of Division II in Mbarara. Kivuna also supervised Bihanga training school directly, despite the fact that Col. Muheesi was the Chief of Training in the Army.

Michael Waddington is a court martial lawyer – court martial attorney that defends military personnel worldwide as well as deployed civilian contractors subject to the UCMJ. He defends Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine, Coast Guard, and civilian contractor court martial cases. He has successfully defended military personnel as a court martial lawyer Army Navy Marine & Air Force court martials in Germany, England, Italy, Iraq, Kuwait, Korea, Okinawa, Japan, Yokota, and throughout the United States. military-defense-lawyer-recentcases.htm.