After the commitment of MPs Allan Ssewanyana and Muhammad Ssegirinya to the high court, their lawyers want an expeditious trial claiming the legislators' health is a big concern.

However, there was no date slated for the commencement of the trial.

“The case has been sent to the high court for a hearing. Now, the high court is supposed to plan and see when it can be able to handle that case,” Judiciary’s Public Relations Officer Jameson Karemani says.

According to the judiciary, it is possible to have a speedy trial as long as the prisons authorities can verify that one or both of the legislators' health condition justifies it.

“A special session can be conducted if the accused person is a juvenile, an elderly or very ill,” Karemani told NTV Uganda.

Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago, who is one of the accused’s lawyers, says that given the poor state of his client’s health, there should be no debate about the need for s speedy trial.

“We also put in fresh bail applications which are yet to be fixed. So, we are pushing for all those matters. But as we do that, we want to embark on the process of pushing for an expeditious hearing of this case so that justice is done,” Lukwago says.

Lukwago also claims that the prosecution never provided them with the evidence collected to help them prepare for defence as required by the law.

“As lawyers, we are left in disarray. We do not know where to start from. All these wide allegations are not backed up with the evidence they are talking about,” Lukwago says.

For Lukwago, this is politically motivated. Nevertheless, the legislators’ legal team is set to battle it out in the high court and they are optimistic that they will prove their clients’ innocence.