Brian Isiko Returned to Luzira After Mother Fails to Raise Bail Money

Brian Isiko, the embattled student of YMCA who is in Luzira prison facing accusations of offensive communication and cyber harassment has been granted bail.

Isiko is accused of persistently sending love related messages to the Kabarole district MP, Sylvia Rwabwogo, between November 2017 and June 2018, which messages the MP said posed a threat to her life.

Having pleaded guilty, Isiko was in June convicted and sentenced to Luzira prison to serve two years and eight months.

The Buganda Road Grade one Magistrate, Stella Amabirisi on Friday granted bail to Isiko. This was after the defence lawyer, Ramathan Waiswa argued that; the accused has a constitutional right to be granted, has never been convicted on any offense and had substantial sureties.

The conditions for bail included a non-cash bail for each of Isiko’s two sureties; Godfrey Wako, the Assistant Academic Registrar Kyambogo University and Joel Maluma (uncle). They were each granted a non-cash bail of Shs 5 million.

Court also ordered the accused to deposit a sum of Shs 1 million as a condition for his release. However, this money could not be deposited given the financial status of Isiko’s mother.

Owing to the failure to meet the court condition, Isiko was returned to Luzira prison.

Rachael Nakamya, the mother to the accused told the media that she can not afford to raise Shs 1 million and appealed to Ugandans to offer assistance.

“I urge Ugandans to help me raise Shs 1 million that court is demanding, because I am both mother and father to Isiko. Yet my son needs to go to school,” she said.

“I can not afford to raise that money,” the mother added.

Lawyer Waiswa said Nakamya has returned to the village with the hopes of raising the said amount of money by Monday.

“Unfortunately, Brian Isiko has had to be returned to Luzira this afternoon. It is unfortunate that though court has ordered for his bail, the same court has also ordered that he pays Shs 1 million in cash as one of the bail requirements,” the lawyer told the media on Friday.

“And because his mother is a poor woman, a widow and a single mother, she couldn’t raise that money”.

Buganda Road Grade one Magistrate ordered the accused to return to court on October 29, the same day on which MP Rwabwogo is expected in court.