Supreme Court frees four murder suspects from life imprisonment after 15 years

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The Supreme Court has freed four men who had been slapped with life imprisonment over murder due to a lack of incriminating evidence against them.

The justices, led by Christopher Madrama, set free David Tibita, Saadi Maganda, Philip Isabirye and Fred Bateganya after they had spent 15 years in Luzira Prison.

“The sentences of the appellants are set aside and they are released forthwith unless held on other lawful charges,” Madrama ruled.

Other justices on the panel, are Mike Chibita, Elizabeth Musoke, Catherine Bamugemereire and Monica Mugenyi.

Reduced sentence

Meanwhile, the court reduced the sentence of Faziri Wampa, who was charged with the four appellants who were acquitted, from 30 to 19 years, for killing a one Paul Mukisa.

Court documents indicate that the appellants were initially sentenced to life imprisonment by the High Court. When they appealed against the sentence, the Court of Appeal upheld their convictions but found the life sentences to be unduly harsh and reduced each sentence to 30 years’ imprisonment.

The prosecution says that on July 5, 2011, at approximately 4:00am, Wampa lured Mukisa, also known as Paul Kagame (now deceased) out of his house by making him believe his chickens were causing a disturbance.

Once Mukisa stepped out, Wampa and other assailants bolted the main door from the outside. They then attacked Mukisa with machetes, resulting in his death.

Government faulted

In a judgement dated August 6, 2025, the court found that the evidence of a longstanding grudge between Wampa and the deceased, coupled with the mutual suspicion between the two, fuelled malice, motive and eventually led to murder.

The justices noted that the failure by the Government authorities to resolve the dispute between the deceased and Wampa, led Wampa to take the law into his own hands.

“It was reprehensible for Wampa to take the life of another person based on suspicions of habitual theft. Nonetheless, Wampa was exasperated by the deceased's alleged thievery and the failure of law enforcement to act,” Madrama noted.

According to the justices, had the Police effectively investigated allegations of theft and threatening violence which were reported by Wampa and the deceased, the rule of law would have been restored in Kawete village in Bugiri district.

The justices noted that the deceased had identified three persons, including Wampa, as those who assaulted him. However, his statement did not implicate the other appellants as individuals who inflicted fatal injuries upon him.

“It was difficult for the witnesses in this case to identify the accused individuals between 4:00am and 5:00am, under the conditions they described as moonlit,” Madrama observed.

The Justices ruled that the Court of Appeal wrongly decided that the testimonies of Police officers Wor Okongo and Aggrey Wafula were credible and concluded that their evidence effectively placed all the appellants at the crime scene and discredited their defences of alibi.

Alibi is a statement by a person under suspicion of a crime that they were in a different place when the offence was committed.

“The Court of Appeal did not adequately review the burden of proof related to the defence of alibi. Save for Wampa, the prosecution did not discharge its duty against the other appellants,” Madrama ruled.

According to the justices, the Court of Appeal misapplied the law surrounding the defences of alibi by erroneously reversing the burden of proof to the appellants, arriving at an incorrect conclusion of guilt.

The justices said that to prove that the appellants were part of a criminal enterprise, the prosecution ought to have found evidence of common intention against the appellants.

According to the justices, none of the prosecution witnesses directly linked the appellants to the commission of the offence.

During the hearing of the case, the appellants were represented by William Byansi, the Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, appeared for the state while lawyer Emmanuel Muwonge and Asuman Basalirwa appeared for the appellants.