American couple gets UGX 100 m cash bail
The High Court in Kampala has granted a 50 million shillings cash bail each to an American couple accused of aggravated torture and trafficking.
The couple including Nicholas Spencer and Mackenzie Leing Mathias Spencer who have been on remand at Luzira prison since December 2022, appeared before International Crime’s Division Court for ruling on their bail application.
Justice Isaac Muwata ruled in their favour and ordered the couple to pay 100 million shillings in addition to depositing their passports at the court. They were also prohibited from traveling out of the country but report to the Deputy Register once every month.
Defence lawyer Christine Tumuhairwe told Galaxy Fm reporter Rashidah Nakaayi that her clients requested for bail on grounds that besides it being a constitutional right , their health was unstable. She says they each presented four substantial sureties who were each bonded 50 million shillings, non cash.
“They have been granted bail on condition that they pay 50 million each and their sureties pay 50 m each, non cash. It is their right according to the constitution to apply for bail and court has seen it fit because they fulfilled all conditions,” said Tumuhairwe
The pair was arrested in December last year and charged for torturing a 10-year-old boy in their foster care at their residence in Naguru, in Nakawa Division between December 2020 and December 2012.
The boy was isolated from others, denied proper meals , forced to sleep on a wooden bed with no mattress and on cold tiles naked while on CCTV surveillance around the clock.
American couple gets UGX 100 m cash bail
The couple also face two new charges including illegal stay in the country and working without a permit.
The prosecution led by Joan Keko states that Mackenzie between September 21, 2022, and December 2011 and Spencer between November 30, 2022, and December 2022 unlawfully stayed in Uganda and worked without valid permits contrary to Section 59(2) (a) of the Uganda Citizenship and immigration control Act CAP 66..
