The Butambala Chief Magistrate’s Court has halted the hearing of a terrorism case involving Butambala County Member of Parliament Muhammad Muwanga Kivumbi and 24 other accused persons following concerns about two suspected minors among the defendants.
While appearing before Chief Magistrate Deogratias Ssejjemba, information presented during the hearing suggested that the two individuals are still enrolled in secondary school.
The revelation prompted the court to consider whether they could legally fall under the category of minors and therefore qualify for special protections under the law.
Due to the uncertainty, the magistrate paused the proceedings to allow time for clarification regarding their actual ages.
State prosecutors told the court that they did not have immediate access to records confirming the suspects’ dates of birth, leaving the matter open for the court’s determination.
Uganda’s Children Act provides safeguards for individuals suspected to be below the age of 18. Under the law, a person who appears to be a child may be treated as one until evidence proves otherwise—a principle that can influence how a criminal trial is conducted.
To address the issue, Magistrate Ssejjemba directed the Uganda Prisons Service to carry out assessments aimed at establishing the ages of the two suspects.
Prisons officials were instructed to present their findings to the court before the case can proceed further.
The matter involving Kivumbi and the other accused persons will therefore resume once the court receives the age verification report from the Uganda Prisons Service.
