Lawyer fails to block media coverage of sh3.6b case

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KAMPALA - The Nakasero-based Anti-Corruption Court has rejected an application to exclude journalists from covering the case of a businessman accused of tax offences involving shillings 3.6 billion.

Derrick Bazekuketta, through an oral application, requested the court not to allow coverage of Wu Su's case, citing interference with his privacy.

Su was charged at the Nakasero-based Anti-Corruption Court on May 9, 2024, by Magistrate Christopher Opit. 

He was charged with three counts: Failure to apply for registration as required under a tax law contrary to Section 62(a) of the Tax Procedures Code Act of 2014, failure to furnish a tax return contrary to Section 54(1) of the Tax Procedure Act of 2014 as amended and failure to maintain proper records contrary to Section 56 of the Tax Procedures Code Act of 2014.

It is alleged that during January 2021 to August 2023 in Kampala central, being an account holder number 2301209970 held at KCB Bank Commercial Plaza branch, Su had unexplained amounts from allegedly unexplained transactions amounting to $967,156 (about Shillings 3.6 billion).

Lawyer Bazekuketta implored Magistrate Opit to intervene in the matter, stating that his client required protection from journalists' coverage. 

However, Opit responded that there were no justifiable reasons to exclude journalists from carrying out their duty of reporting on court proceedings.

“I cannot bar the media from covering court proceedings. It is the practice I found here,” Opit said.

Opit advised the lawyer to challenge the practice if he felt that allowing journalists to cover court proceedings was illegal.

In April the head of the Anti-Corruption Court Justice Lawrence Gidudu also rejected an application in the case where three officials of Kaliro district local government were accused of money laundering and causing financial loss to the tune of shillings 5.8 billion, not to transfer the case to a criminal session in Kaliro High Court. 

The accused had expressed concerns that the media in Kaliro would be biased against them.

Gidudu in response to the application stated that the court does not extend invitations to the media for coverage of the proceedings, rather, they attend at their own discretion. He added that the court cannot prohibit their attendance, as they are not formally invited by the court.

Article 41 of the Constitution of Uganda states that “Every citizen has a right of access to information in the possession of the state or any other organ of the state except where the release of the information is likely to interfere with the security of the state or the right to the privacy of any other person”