Hope Kampaire, the wife to Jack Erasmaus Nsangiranabo, a security officer attached to the Internal Security Organization [ISO], has sued Col Frank Kaka Bagyenda for contempt of court.
In a miscellaneous application 671 of 2019 filed on October 2, in the High court in Kampala, Kampaire through her lawyers of M/S Masereka & Co. Advocates, is seeking a declaration that Kaka, the director general of ISO, is in contempt of court for refusing, ignoring and failing to implement an earlier High court order directing him to release Nsangiranabo from illegal detention.
Nsangiranabo was arrested on March 7 and detained at an ISO-run safe house in Kalangala district on Lake Victoria. Kampaire says she has no idea what his crimes are.
On July 31, High court judge Musa Ssekaana issued orders directing the Attorney General and Col Frank Kaka to immediately release Nsangiranabo after they failed to comply with a habeas corpus order issued by the same court on July 25.
“Despite serving the respondents with the court order, the respondents have not only refused and ignored to comply but also contemptuously continue to disregard the orders and authority of this court. The applicant has not received any reason from the first respondent to justify the failure to comply with orders and there is no order of stay, precluding compliance with the said orders of court,” Kampaire’s application reads in part.
She adds that in case her application is successful, Kaka should be committed to a civil prison for disobeying the lawful orders of court.
“The 1st respondent holds a public office established by law and his least obligation is to be accountable to the law. This obligation he has failed by ignoring the order of this court and he not only ought to be discharged from that office but also committed to a civil prison for contempt,” the application reads.
She also wants to be awarded five hundred million shillings in punitive, exemplary, aggravated and general damages for the damage that her husband’s detention has had on her and her three children.
A letter written by KTA advocates on behalf of Kampaire on August 27, 2019 to the Attorney General requesting him to rein in Kaka seems to have also yielded nothing.
“The Director General ISO has flagrantly disregarded the said order and has continued to hold the applicant in unlawful custody,” a letter signed by KTA advocates reads in part. Left with no option, Kampaire decided to petition the High court again to find Kaka in contempt of its orders.
Appeal
In a statement to this newspaper, Kampaire appealed to President Yoweri Museveni to prevail over Kaka and force him to release Nsangriranabo or take him to court.
She says on several occasions she visited the office of Kaka asking about her husband’s whereabouts but his response was that he had put him away for disciplinary reasons. He promised to release him soon; a thing he never did but instead opted to stop meeting her and taking her phone calls.
“For now seven months, I, our three children and other family members have not heard from my husband. We do not know whether he is still alive. We appeal for justice; that my husband is produced in court to face the law, and that Kaka Bagyenda be called to account for his whereabouts,” Kampaire’s statement reads in part.
No time for you
Kaka declined an interview for this story. When this reporter called him and introduced himself, the colonel hung up immediately.