By Monica Kobusiinge
Kampala: The Civil Division of the High Court in Kampala has thrown out an application in which lawyers representing presidential hopeful, Rtd. Lt. Gen. Henry Tumukunde sought permission to have CID director AIGP Akullo summoned for cross- examination.
The lawyers led by Anthony Wameli on Thursday asked court to summon Akullo for cross- examination over an affidavit in which she said she had received intelligence information to the effect that Tumukunde was meeting army veterans so as to disrupt the ongoing electoral process.
However, on Friday Justice Musa Ssekaana said the lawyers had not shown any exceptional circumstances to warrant the summoning of the police director for cross- examination.
“The applicants didn’t show how the cross- examination will help in getting justice in the case. It is therefore wrong for anyone to make an application without any genuine reasons justifying the same,” Ssekaana ruled.
The judge explained that if a party wishes to cross- examine, they must put forward affidavit evidence which shows contradiction with the facts stated in the earlier affidavit.
“Therefore, the cross- examination of a deponent would only make sense if there is conflict of facts. Therefore, the right to cross- examine is not absolute and there are limits on the rights of a party to legal to cross examine a deponent on the contents of the affidavit.”
Ssekaana said that on the face of it all, the application by Tumukunde’s lawyers was only a fishing expedition meant to achieve selfish goals but not to aid in getting justice or expediting the case.
“Cross examination should not be used a tactic, particularly by lawyers or litigants to intimidated, frustrate, delay or add unnecessary costs. It was wrong for the applicant’s counsel to make an application for cross examination in a haphazard manner without genuine and sound reasons. (https://discoverstillwater.com/) ”
The judge therefore ruled that the application by Tumukunde’s lawyers to have AIGP Grace Akullo cross-examined cannot stand, and consequently threw it out.
