The High court civil division has ruled that the former spy chief General, David Sejusa can no longer be subjected to military rules having been constructively discharged by the conduct of Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF)
In her judgment this afternoon, Justice Margaret Oguli Ouma ruled that by UPDF withdrawing Sejusa's salary, allowances and other benefits of a serving army officer at his rank, meant that he had been constructively discharged, which means that he is no longer a serving army officer.
She ordered government to compensate Sejusa Shs 750m in damages for having humiliated him and violated his rights when he was arrested, detained and charged before the General Court Martial. Justice Oguli also noted that Sejusa was wrongly denied bail when he made an application in the General Court Martial.
She also ruled that Sejusa is entitled to his salary arrears, allowances and other terminal benefits which must be paid with a 20 percent interest from the date of judgment until payment is done in full.
Oguli declared that UPDF discriminated against Sejusa when it went on to discharge other army officer at his rank and those from the force who had applied but refused to discharge him.
In his application before the court, Gen Sejusa argued that the army had discharged his comrades like General Yoweri Museveni, Salim Saleh, Henry Tumukunde and Mugisha Muntu yet denied him the same. Shortly after the court ruling, Sejusa thanked God and court, saying finally the truth has come out.
The ruling means that the case in the General Court Martial can't continue since Sejusa was arraigned there as a serving military officer. In November 2015 Sejusa who had served in the army for 34 years dragged the army Commissions and Promotions Board to the High court for refusing to retire him from the military following his application.
In his application, Sejusa asked court to declare that he ceased to be a UPDF officer on April 8, 2015 when he applied to retire. He also indicated that the refusal by the army to pay his salary, withdrawal of his uniforms, housing and transport allowances and guns among others amount to 'constructive discharge' from UPDF.
Sejusa wanted court to order the UPDF commission and the Attorney General to hand him his a discharge certificate as a sign that he has retired from the army.
Source