What others say

It is said that behind every successful man there is a woman. This could not be truer in the case of prosecution. For every successful case, there is a good police investigation. However, this goes along with good prosecution too. There are several good prosecutors who have successfully prosecuted complicated cases of high public interest.

To keep a good chain of information flow from the courts to the public, the journalists have also played their roles of reporting the proceedings through various media. Thanks to the cordial relationship the journalists enjoy with prosecutors, the public has been able to follow court proceedings keenly.

To many journalists, court reporting is 'boring' and 'time consuming'. Even the legal jargons make matters worse. It takes patience to sit through the proceedings and report what transpired accurately.

The prosecutors however, have made court reporting interesting. They always simplify the jargons and explain any grey area of the case to the journalists.

The prosecutors always help journalists access information on their records, for example, particulars of a case that must be referred to every time a court case is being reported.

What is interesting is that even the name of the prosecutor in any given case is an issue. The public wants to know the conduct of the prosecutor, and this can only be done by publicizing their names in the media and detailing what they said. Thanks to the prosecutors, none of them has ever declined to be named in the press in light of the case.

Deputy Director of Public Prosecution, Mr Simon Byabakama is a typical press darling, often times wearing a broad smile as he refers to the journalists as rumourmongers. He is always willing to explain anything vague to journalists thus turning 'rumours' into truth. Byabakama is best remembered for prosecuting a high profile case where an Asian businessman, Sharma Kooky, murdered his wife. The journalists publicised this case up to the Supreme Court. Kooky is currently on deathrow.

Another case that received high publicity because of the good reporter-prosecutor relationship is the murder case against Toro Prime minister, John Katuramu. In both cases other prosecutors took up at appeal levels, but because of the good relationship with the journalists the publicity continued.

There are other upcoming prosecutors like Arinaitwe state attorney,who are equally good and media friendly. Arinaitwe handled the case involving a robbery and murder at Makerere University and the murder case involving Susan Kigula, who was convicted for killing her husband, by the High Court.

In both cases, he helped journalists access the records thereby making reporting easier. To many journalists, his style of prosecution is lovely. He knows how to line up his witnesses in a manner that makes reporting interesting because events occur in sequence and public follow it easily.

Joan Kagezi, a state attorney, is earning herself a good name within the media for being friendly too. Edris Kiggundu, a Weekly Observer reporter, describes her as "a very interactive and always available to answer journalists questions".

Most prosecutors are nice to journalists, always tipping them of what is coming next and demystify the legal jargon disease. If a journalist does not have a good working relationship with the prosecutors, court reporting can be a nightmare.