By Juliet Kigongo | Monitor
A Ugandan pastor who has been on remand on allegations of raping a Latvian tourist has finally been granted bail. Pastor Joseph Collins Twahirwa was on Wednesday granted a cash bail of Shs1 million by the High Court deputy registrar Mr Festo Nsenga who ordered him to deposit his passport with court. He was also told to report to court after every three weeks before his sureties were bonded at Shs5 million, not cash.
Among the grounds his listed while applying for bail pending the hearing of his case, Pastor Twahirwa through his lawyers told court that he has a heart disease whose condition cannot be handled while in detention, has a fixed place of abode and that his sureties were substantial.
Pr Twahirwa, a lawyer by profession, on December 12, 2022 at Munyonyo Zone in Kampala is accused of having unlawful carnal knowledge with Saulite Anda without her consent.
The 36-year-old Latvian said Mr Twahirwa told her “he wanted to have a baby … pushed me onto the bed and raped me” on the night of December 11, 2022.
Anda also recounted her frustration when she tried to file a case, first, at Jinja Road Police Station and later at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (CID).
At the former, officers asked the Latvian to either “buy [fuel] to put in [their] car” or “to sleep with me.” At CID, the officers told Anda that she was “playing with a man who has big people around.” Read more
