The Magistrates courts are failing to fully prosecute suspected offenders because of police failure to produce sufficient evidence to pin them. A grade one magistrate who declines to be named says police incompetence, is largely contributing to the dismissal or acquittal of accused persons in court cases.
He says prosecutors only use evidence provided by the police. He says that some of the cases brought before court lack enough exhibits to implicate the accused. The spokesperson for the judiciary Erias Omal Kisawozi admits that many suspects are acquitted because the prosecution fails to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the accused is guilty.
He says the prosecution some times fails to measure up to court standards hence the acquittal of cases. Omal admits that police is sometime sloppy while carrying out investigation. Omal says because of inadequate training some police investigators learn on the job, others temper with evidence while others ignore vital evidence all together.
Our source says in some instances police fails to produce case files before court which leave the court with no option but through out the case. Although the magistrates cite
Police failure to bring witnesses to court the Kampala central Police spokesman Moses Kafeero, says witnesses always let them down.
He says witnesses some times fail to turn up when the cases are due for hearing even after several reminders from the police. Some of the prominent cases that have been acquitted due to lack of sufficient evidence include the murder charges against Dr Aggrey Kiyingi who was being accused of murdering his wife, Mufti sheik Shaban Mubajje on charges of fraud and the defilement charges against state minister for disaster preparedness Musa Ecweru.
