The Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Jacob Oulanyah has asked the Uganda Law Reform Commission to fast track the tabling of the Witness Protection Bill, 2015.
Oulanyah made the call while opening the joint meeting between the Commission and the Parliamentary Human Rights and Legal Committees, emphasizing that the Bill is very important and must be treated with urgency.
Based on his personal experience as an active lawyer years back, Oulanyah narrated how he was forced to hide some of the defense witnesses in his garage to protect them from intimidation or being compromised.
He also urged the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights to break the record by handling the Bill within 45 days once tabled in Parliament.
“Organized crimes, drug related crimes, cartels, now war crimes attract dangers which are so real. We therefore need to act quickly so that we keep the integrity of cases that must succeed for them to succeed, we can only do this if we have a protection system that helps witnesses,” Oulanyah said.
The Assistant Commissioner at the Law Reform Commission, Jeroline Abuku told the legislators that there is need to pass the Bill since it will establish an Agency that is independent. The same Agency will get funds from the Consolidated Fund, have an advisory Board as well as a tribunal to decide when to give a witness protection and when to withdraw it before, during and after a trial.
Abuku suggested that since there is an apparent Cabinet ban on the creation of new Agencies, it would be best to create a Directorate for Witness Protection under the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
However, legislators including Veronica Bichetero, Jackson Kafuuzi, Robert Kyagulanyi of Kyadondo East and Kamateeka pointed out loopholes in the bill that need to be fixed.
Kyagulanyi noted that instead of forming an Agency, the Commission should consider causing amendments into the Uganda Police Act to provide for protection of witnesses.