SK Mbuga and his wife Vivienne Chebet on their wedding day. COURTESY PHOSO
KAMPALA. The family of Angella Vivienne Chebet, the wife to jailed businessman Sulaiman Kabangala popularly known as SK Mbuga, a Kampala socialite, has petitioned the High Court in Kampala, seeking its orders to have her body immediately brought to court “dead” or “alive”.
The family wants the court’s orders to be directed at Inspector General of Police and the Director of Public Prosecutions to have Chebet regain her freedom.
According to court records, Police arrested Chebet on February 14, 2019 and detained her at Katwe Police Station.
A habeas corpus application is made in court seeking a person under detention to be brought before court to secure that person’s release unless lawful grounds are shown to justify their continued incarceration.
The Attorney General, Assistant Inspector General of Police Grace Akullo along with five police officers have been also listed as joint respondents.
In a sworn affidavit by her brother Mr Samuel Mukasa claims that Chebet has since been transferred to Kira Police Station and that she has been there from February 15.
Mr Mukasa argues that her continued detention is illegal since the same has been beyond the mandatory constitutional hours as she has never been released on police bond or formally arraigned before court.
“Attempts by the applicant’s lawyers, with family members and Balaam Barugahare, (a renowned event organizer) to secure police bond over the past days pending investigations, have been futile and frustrated by the police operatives,” reads in part Mukasa’s affidavit before the court.
Adding; “As a result of the continued detention, the applicant’s constitutional right to personal liberty is being violated under the guise of protracted investigations yet she secured an order for unconditional release issued by the Chief Magistrate’s Court of Kira,”
Mukasa further alleges that despite securing an order to have his sister released, the police at Kibuli’s CID has not yet complied with it.
Court documents further show that Chebet is a mother of two children of tender age who have for the past eleven days, been without their mother and yet their father, Mbuga is already incarcerated abroad (Sweden) which is out of their reach.
Chebet is wanted in Sweden on a case of defrauding 53m Krona (about Shs20.9b) from her Swedish boyfriend, Sten Heinsoo.
She had been arrested and charged in a Swedish court in February 2017, but jumped bail but found her way back to Uganda.
Similarly, last year, the Swedish media reported that the Swedish government had requested for assistance from the Uganda government to have Mbuga and his wife Chebet arrested. Uganda and Sweden do not have an extradition treaty between them
Mbuga, who had been known for living a luxurious lifestyle and driving posh cars, had until last month, been in jail for one year at Al Awiir Central Prison in Dubai over related charges.
About a week ago, authorities in Sweden had requested the UAE government to hand over Mbuga in a case of 53m Kronor (about Shs23 billion) that his Swedish wife allegedly fleeced from a company account she jointly ran with her former boyfriend, Sten Heinsoo.
Chebet’s application will be heard today before Justice Musa Sekaana.
