Five suspects accused of causing the death of 24 year-old female MP, Cerinah Nebanda, have registered a mini-victory after a court granted each of them a cash bail of Sh10 million (£2,400).
Makindye Court Chief Magistrate Ester Nambayo granted bail to Noor Abubakar, Khan Babu, Abdul Abid Rashid Butt, Ali Omar Almuzahim, and Fatuma Babu. Nambayo and asked the suspects to deposit their passports and land titles.
A sixth co-accused, Ms Nebanda’s boyfriend Adam Sulaiman Kalungi, who is believed to be a key suspect in the case, remains on remand, having not applied for bail.
The suspects face manslaughter charges and two counts of being in possession of narcotic drugs contrary to the National Drug Policy and Authority Act.
Cerinah Nebanda, a vocal critic of the government she represented, died in December 2012 after reportedly ingesting a cocktail of cocaine, heroin, alcohol and several other chemicals. However, she had had a well publicised spat with President Yoweri Museveni shortly before her death and critics suspect foul play. A family-appointed pathologist and a medically trained fellow MP claim to have been intimidated and obstructed and tissue samples taken to establish the cause of death have been confiscated by police and government agents.
According to the charge sheet, Kalungi and his five co-accused unlawfully caused the death of Cerinah Nebanda on December 14, 2012 at his apartment in Buziga Makindye Division, Kampala.
