A man has been released from jail after being on remand without trial since 1997. It was at 11:13am on Monday, when the court clerk read out Alfred Byamukama’s file and presented it to the Mbarara High Court Judge for a ruling on the application for dismissal of his case. It is alleged that Byamukama had a physical altercation with a village-mate in March 1997, whom he struck in the head before the victim died on the way to the hospital. Byamukama is said to have had a mental challenge at the time of the incident.
At the time of his incarceration, then aged 27, Byamukama was first detained at Mwizi Police Station for one week in the then Mbarara District, present-day Rwampara District. From Mwizi, Byamukama was transferred to Mbarara Central Police Station, then Kyamugorani Prison, before being transferred to Luzira Upper Prison in Kampala in 2001. While making her ruling, Mbarara High Court Judge Joanita Bushara Mugerwa dismissed the case on grounds that the prosecution delayed to handle the matter, the case was on file for a long time, and Byamukama’s right to a fair hearing was violated.
‘The application of dismissal has been granted, and the order of detention is set aside. This case is dismissed due to gross unconstitutional delays on the side of prosecution and the violation of the applicant’s right to a speedy trial. The applicant shall be released immediately and unconditionally, unless he’s being held for other cases,’ the judge said. ‘I have spent most of my productive and energetic years in prison. I don’t know where to start from but the mission is to build afresh. I feel like I have been reborn, and I will do all it takes to make the rest of my life meaningful,’ Byamukama said shortly after he was released from prison.
What the law says
Hakim Ngobi, a lawyer, said Byamukama’s case took so long to be handled because he was found to be of unsound mind after his arrest in 1997. With an unsound mind, court proceeded under Section 43, Clause 1 of the Uganda Trial on Indictments Act (originally the Trial on Indictments Decree, 1971), which says if someone is of unsound mind and is unable to make their defence, court is mandated to send them to detention and forward their file to the (Justice) minister for them to make their orders.
‘Byamukama’s file got lost in the system because he was treated and got well before 2005. The minister responsible did not follow up on him because there are many prisoners like him and nobody knows about any orders made by the minister. This caused the delay in finalising his case,’ Ngobi said. Article 28 of the Constitution provides for a right to a fair hearing that comes with a speedy trial, depending on the case. ‘For someone of unsound mind, one may argue that they aren’t ready to make their defence.
However, the breach was from the minister’s office not making such orders. On the side of prisons, they didn’t make timely updates on the health status of Byamukama. They later made the updates, and it is the reason he was arraigned in court and released. ‘The right to a fair hearing is non-derogable, meaning no one can take it away from anyone at any cost. It was the basis on which the judge dismissed the case because Byamukama’s right was grossly taken away, given the time frame that has passed,’ Ngobi added.
Ngobi added that prisoners of unsound mind, who may require the minister’s order, fall into different categories. They include those who are discovered unable to make their own defence during trial. Under Section 46 of the Trial and Indictment Act, they are sent to prison to be treated and be taken back to court after recovering. As such, the trial can commence from where it stopped. The second category of prisoners under the same Act, are those known to be already insane by the time of committing the offence.
Courts send such people into detention to be treated after making a special finding of not guilty due to insanity. ‘If it comes to the court’s attention that they are well, the minister is empowered to discharge these people without going back to court or the court can discharge them without any other trial. The challenge is that the minister responsible hasn’t been making such orders, meaning prisons get stuck with such people even after treatment.
Until his dismissal, Byamukama was the latter,’ Ngobi said. Until 2018, there were more than 35 inmates awaiting the minister’s orders. When the minister started making orders in 2022, a total of 29 prisoners have since been released. Byamukama is the latest ex-prisoner whose case was dismissed and set free.
Legal help
Ms Canaan Nkamuhabwa, the legal officer at Justice Defenders Uganda, an organisation that offers legal aid to the most vulnerable poor people who cannot afford lawyers, said the organisation started working on cases of prisoner’s awaiting the minister’s orders in 2018. These have been in prison for long periods and neither been tried, nor convicted because they were found to be of unsound mind at the time they committed the offence.
‘We have been representing his case and many others since 2018, writing letters to the minister, courts and the Director of Public Prosecution for remedy. The petition in court and at Parliament was done on their behalf and Byamukama was the chief petitioner. He finally got cause-listed for trial in September 2025 and we put in an application for his release that was decided in our favour,’ Nkamuhabwa said.