Women lawmakers under the Uganda Women Parliamentary Association are demanding that President Yoweri Museveni rescinds his decision to pardon convicted murderer, Sharma Kooky.
Kooky, a businessman of Indian origin was in 2000 sentenced to death for the brutal murder of his wife Renu Joshi on December 23rd 1997, while at the couple’s home in Old Kampala.
The Supreme Court in 2002 upheld the judgments of the Court of Appeal and the High Court, with the judges insisting that Kooky indeed killed his wife by electrocution.
But on Monday, Kooky walked to freedom following a presidential directive to prison authorities for his release on a presidential pardon.
Kooky’s sentence in 2009 was committed to life imprisonment following a Supreme Court ruling that death penalties could be converted into life imprisonment if those convicted are not executed within a period of three years.
Now the women MPs led by UWOPA chairperson Betty Amongi say they do not find any justice in releasing a criminal after committing such a heinous crime of killing his wife. They are seeking justification for the action by the president to pardon him.
Amongi says that the women will write a protest note to the Attorney General’s office and the Prime Minister. She expressed disappointment over the release saying this is likely to set a bad precedence to other capital offenders. The women are also seeking audience with the president to explain the problems his decision is likely to cause in society.
Ibanda woman MP, Margaret Kiboijana observes that the president was misguided by the advisory committee that sits in the prerogative of mercy. According to the constitution, the committee consists of the Attorney General as the chair person and six prominent citizens of Uganda appointed by the president. Article 121 of the constitution empowers the President to grant any person convicted of an offense a pardon either free or subject to lawful conditions.
Kiboijana says she was disappointed by President Museveni’s decision saying releasing Kooky was a miscalculated move. She urged the president to rescind his decision.
Kooky is the fifth person in the last ten years to enjoy the President’s prerogative of mercy after Abdallah Nasur was pardoned in 2001 followed by Ali Fadhul, Ezra Kasasirwa and Chris Rwakasisi in 2009.
