Elizabeth Kuteesa, the former Director of Criminal Investigations in the Uganda Police Force, has been acquitted of charges of criminal misconduct that stem from a rape case against opposition leader Kiiza Besigye.
Besigye dragged Kuteesa to court this year, several months after he was found not guilty of raping Joanita Kyakuwa. He accused Kuteesa, who supervised the investigations and testified in the case, of several criminal offenses including falsification of a register and conspiracy to defeat justice.
During the rape trial, inconsistencies surrounding the Kyakuwa's reporting of the case and the irregular entry of key evidence were attributed to Kuteesa and her office.
The Forum for Democratic Change leader also alleged that Kuteesa admitted under oath that she authorized the abduction and illegal detention of Aisha Nakiguli, another key witness in the rape case.
However the assistant Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, Damalie Lwanga, told Court this afternoon that the State had failed to adduce enough evidence against Kuteesa. She asked Buganda Road Chief Magistrate Margaret Tibulya to acquit Kuteesa because she was a victim of the poor record management by her junior officers.
Lwanga argued that although Kuteesa supervised the investigations she was not in charge of making entries into the registers.
Tibulya dismissed the case in order to prevent what she called abuse of the legal process. She said a dismissal of the case would also serve the interest of the administration of justice, since the State had conceded that there was no evidence against Kuteesa.
Court's decision has not gone down well with Besigye's legal team.
One of his lawyers, David Mpanga, said the State had hijacked the case. He said attempts to protest the submission by the State were met with stiff resistance and that Besigye's team was not given an opportunity to present its case before the court.
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