Brit Arrested in Uganda

Bernard Randall
(Image from The Times)

A former British banker, Bernard Randall, and Albert Cheptoyet, who is alleged to be his Ugandan partner, have been arrested following a rabid news outing by Red Pepper.

British man and Ugandan lover to go on trial over gay sex videos: Ugandan prosecutors deny the men have been ‘medically tested’ to see if they have been having homosexual sex

The presiding judge confessed this is the first case of its kind she has dealt with and therefore said she needed time to consider it, although she pledged it would be dealt with as soon as possible.

Randall and Cheptoyet were released on bail of UGX1.5million ($593,000 €430,000) while their sureties were bonded at UGX500,000 ($198,000 €143,000). They are due to return to court on 18 November.

Prosecutors at the hearing on 22 October had objected to bail being granted, claiming the men may ‘lure’ others into gay ‘practices’.

Activists from Uganda Gay On Move have ‘strongly condemned’ the government for the arrests describing them as an ‘invasion of privacy’. They have warned other people will use some of the trumped-up allegations against the pair as ‘an excuse to blackmail LGBT people’.

The men apparently live together in Katabi village, a suburb of the major town of Entebbe, just south of the capital Kampala.

The British Foreign Office is aware of the arrest and said it is providing Randall with consular assistance.

Only a few days earlier, one of the leading members of Uganda Gay On Move, Mleuben Maccarthy, was himself arrested whilst returning to the country to attend his mother's funeral.