Legislators have demanded for a speedy public trial of the suspects in the death of Uganda Rugby Cranes and Stanbic Black Pirates forward, Sydney Gongodyo who succumbed to injuries on Friday evening, following an alleged mob attack in Nakawa division.
During plenary on Wednesday, in which legislators condemned the continued vice of mob justice across the country, the Budadiri County East MP, Hon. Julius Nakiyi, reiterated a call by Hon Ojok for an expedited trial of the incident.
“This House should urge government to ensure a fair and speedy trial of the suspects through a public court at the scene of crime, just like it happened in Ggaba after the killing of children” he said.
Hon Nakiyi’s request, was in support of Omoro County MP, Hon. Andrew Ojok’s matter of national importance on the continued mob justice across the country, citing the police crime report of 2023 which indicated that 1,039 people lost their lives to mob justice incidents, whereas in 2024, the figure stood at 1,019 persons.
“We must condemn mob justice in a very strong term. I pray that the Minister for Internal Affairs gives us a report within seven days, of what is happening in terms of investigations. Out of over 4,000 such cases, only 1,000 are processed to their logical conclusion. We must discourage mob justice as much as possible,” Ojok said.
He also called on government to update the House on the standard response times to such incidents by the police.
“When the police is called, they come three or four hours later. The person who is supposed to be presumed innocent under the law ends up suffering. If you look at the videos, Sydney was bundled like a thief onto the police wagon. We want a strategy from the police and from government, on what they intend to do about such incidents in the future,” Ojok added.
Following deliberations, the Prime Minister, Robinah Nabbanja directed the Ministry of Internal Affairs to present a report to Parliament, on the circumstances surrounding incidents of mob justice in the country.
“On behalf of government, I want to commit that we shall, using the police and all security agencies and intelligence, try to ensure that we stamp out this act of mob justice. The culprits should be brought to book. I want to direct that the Ministry of Internal Affairs comes with a report so that we have this debated at length,” she said.
On Tuesday, through his X account, the state minister for sports Peter Ogwang called for a speedy trial into the incident, like Okello Onyum’s public murder trial in Ggaba recently.
“Now, we demand a speedy trial of the suspects, similar to a public mobile court hearing that tried the murderer of the day care toddlers in Ggaba. This should be another landmark case in the fight against mob justice” he posted.
