Amuriat, Soroti MPs' bail application hearing today

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Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party president, Patrick Oboi Amuriat and two Soroti city MPs Joan Alobo (woman) and Jonathan Ebwalu (West) are today, March 11, 2025, set to appear in court for their bail application hearing.

The trio was on Monday charged with holding an unlawful assembly, burning tyres and throwing stones.

The Soroti Chief Magistrate's Court, presided over by Hilda Bakanasa Walaga, on Monday remanded these leaders and others to Soroti Prison.

The accused are alleged to have committed the offences on March 7, 2025, in the middle of Soroti town as they held an unlawful assembly.

Three others charged alongside the leaders are Sam Acheitum, Sylus Emedu and Albert Ogalamu.

MP Soroti city west, Jonathan Ebwalu, jumping out of the police truck after reaching the court. (File/Godfrey Ojore)

They denied charges prompting the magistrate to remand them.

The Police opened five files against the accused and others in which they are charged with charges including inciting violence, unlawful assembly, public nuisance and assault.

Some of the crimes allegedly committed by Soroti city MPs date back to last year, where they are accused of disrupting traffic as they demonstrated in the middle of the road with machetes.

Separately, Alobo was charged with 12 other people with four counts of arson, malicious damage, breaking into Jozan Nursery and Primary School and theft.

They are accused of committing the offences on March 6, 2025. The suspects denied the charges and they were remanded until March 20. Alobo in this matter was granted cash bail of shs2m.

However, when a new file containing Alobo, Amuriat, Ebwalu and three others was presented in which they were charged with burning tyres and throwing stones on the road, Alobo lost her first freedom of bail when she was remanded till March 12.

“Unfortunately, we did not know that there were other charges against honorable Alobo that were brought after we had paid cash bail of sh2m”.

The leaders are being represented by four lawyers led by Kyoga MP Moses Okot Bitek, Jacquline Natukunda of Omongole and company advocates, Edmond Elasu, Gabriel Ogire and MP Adeke.

“We have been ambushed with close to 20 counts. We came here expecting two, we made bail application for half of them; the court made a ruling in one and deferred the ruling in one but has given us a window to make an application in two other files on Wednesday,” the FDC lawyer Bitek told journalists.

The cause of the arrest

The two city MPs Alobo and Ebwalu wrote to Inspector General of Police, Abaas Byabakama, notifying him of their plan to hold prayers in Soroti following the delayed compensation of the Iteso.

They intended to use the same time to demand the unconditional release of four-time presidential candidate Dr Kizza Besigye.

However, the venue of the intended prayers, Independence Square, was covered by the Police.

Amuriat, who led demonstrators, marched from the party offices and staged in the middle of Soroti Main Street, which disrupted traffic for several minutes.