The Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Nobert Mao, has said the arrest and incarceration of Rukaari Mwesigwa, the Mbarara City North County Member of Parliament, is an abuse of the court process for personal benefits.
According to Mao, arresting a person over a personal debt should be a last resort.
“Arresting a person for a debt should be the last resort because many people are abusing Court processes. If a debtor has put security your first remedy is to liquidate the security. If it is land you sell it,” he said.
The minister was speaking at a fundraising at Uganda Martyrs Catholic Parish Church in Mbarara City on Sunday. The parish is seeking Shs3 billion to re-construct its church.
Mao, who represented the Speaker of Parliament Anita Annet Among at the fundraising, said that some people have abused court processes to harass and arrest debtors.
Rukaari was last week remanded to Luzira prison by the Commercial Division of the High Court in Kampala for allegedly defaulting on a Shs700 million debt, following an arrest warrant that was issued by the court’s deputy registrar in November last year.
But Mao said the arrest of Rukaari was illegal, warning that those behind his arrest will be dealt with.
Mbarara City Woman Member of Parliament Ritah Bwahika asked the courts of law with all its systems to get back to the processes of helping especially women and people charged by banks in paying back loans.
She said that sometimes individuals end up being victims of unlawful arrests over debts noting that justice is sometimes ‘defiled’.
