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Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Supreme Court in Kampala has ordered the Kasese Prison authorities to transfer a Police Officer, Jayden Ashraf who was found guilty of murdering businessman Eriya Bugembe Ssebunya commonly known as Kasiwukira to Luzira Upper Prison.
Kasiwukira was killed by a speeding vehicle on October 17th, 2014 while jogging near his home in Muyenga, a Kampala suburb.
On Wednesday, the Court presided over by Justice Christopher Izama Madrama ordered the transfer of the convict so as to enable him argue his against the 20year jail term that was handed to him for the murder in question.
In 2016, the late High Court Judge Wilson Masalu Musene convicted Nakungu and Jaden for murder on grounds that they had exhibited intentions of murdering the businessman. During the trial prosecution presented to court video footage showing that Jaden had attempted to kill Kasiwukira on two different occasions without succeeding.
Justice Musene also established that Nakungu owned the vehicle that Jaden used to knock Kasiwukira. He subsequently sentenced the duo to 20 years in Luzira Prisons for murder.
He acquitted Kasiwukira’s widow Sarah Nabikolo on grounds that “her name was never mentioned anywhere in the video clip that was presented to court about the alleged plot to kill Kasiwukira despite the fact that a State Witness, Richard Byamukama implicated her for financing the attack on her husband.
However, Justice Musene noted that the third person in the video clip was only referred as ‘Madam’ without any specific mention about Nabikolo. As a result, Nakungu and Jaden appealed their convictions and sentences in the Court of Appeal but they were upheld. The DPP also appealed the acquittal of the widow, but she equally lost.
Dissatisfied with the decision of the Court of Appeal, Nakungu and Jaden appealed to the Supreme Court, hence the matter that came for pretrial hearing today.
The convicts argue that Justice Musene convicted them on defective charges, denied them a chance to present their witnesses thereby denying them their constitutional right and entitlement to a fair trial, an illegality they say was upheld by the Court of Appeal.
Jaden’s appeal was among the 15 criminal cases that were fixed for a pre-hearing session today.
During the Court Session, Jayden and his co-convict Sandra Nakungu who is also serving the same sentence at Luzira Women Prison followed the proceedings via Zoom and they were given lawyer Andrew Ssebugwawo who will be paid by the government to represent them.
They have now been given timelines within which to file written submissions before the case is fixed for hearing before a panel of five Supreme Court Justices.
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