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Wakameli v Uganda (Criminal Appeal 198 of 2014)

Court of Appeal · [2024] UGCA 128 · 2024 Appeal Allowed (Sentence) ✦ AI-generated summary ↓ Download
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Criminal appeal against sentence only, with leave, from a High Court conviction on a plea of guilty
Decision
Appeal against sentence allowed; original sentences set aside and appellant resentenced to 13 years' imprisonment on each count, to run concurrently from the date of conviction.

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Holding

On an appeal against sentence only, the Court of Appeal held that the trial judge's failure to deduct the period the appellant spent in pretrial custody, as required by article 23(8) of the Constitution, rendered the sentence of 15 years on each of two murder counts (ordered to run consecutively) illegal. The respondent conceded the point. The court set the sentences aside and, exercising its power under section 11 of the Judicature Act, sentenced the appellant afresh: 15 years on each count, less the 2 years spent on remand, giving 13 years on each count to be served concurrently from the date of conviction.

Facts

The appellant pleaded guilty to murdering his father and mother at Nangono village, Mbale District, on 29 April 2012. In February 2012 he had told his parents to complete their house properly because they would die soon, so that the family and public would know he was a mad person. On the night of the killings he did not sleep at his usual place at his brother's home. His sisters discovered both parents dead in a pool of blood, the appellant absent. The following day he reported himself to Tororo Police Station, stating he was handing himself in for the murders, and later confessed in a charge-and-caution statement. Postmortems showed death from injuries inflicted by a sharp weapon, suspected to be an axe. He was convicted on his own plea of guilty and originally sentenced to 15 years on each count to run consecutively, without deduction of his remand period.

Issues

  1. Whether the sentence of 15 years' imprisonment on each of two counts of murder, ordered to run consecutively, was harsh and excessive.
  2. Whether the trial judge's failure to take into account the period the appellant spent on remand, contrary to article 23(8) of the Constitution, rendered the sentence illegal.

Orders

  • The sentences imposed by the High Court are set aside.
  • The appellant is sentenced afresh to 13 years' imprisonment on each count, to be served concurrently from 15th April 2014, the date of conviction.

Key headnotes

Criminal Law & Procedure — Sentencing — Mandatory deduction of remand period under article 23(8) of the Constitution
A sentencing court must take into account the period an offender has spent in pretrial custody when determining the term of imprisonment; failure to comply with article 23(8) of the Constitution renders the resulting sentence illegal and liable to be set aside.
Criminal Law & Procedure — Appellate sentencing — Power to sentence afresh under section 11 of the Judicature Act
Where a sentence is set aside as illegal, the Court of Appeal may exercise its powers under section 11 of the Judicature Act to sentence the offender afresh, assessing the appropriate sentence in light of the aggravating and mitigating factors.
Criminal Law & Procedure — Sentencing — Mitigating factors in murder on a plea of guilty
A first offender who reports himself to police, confesses, pleads guilty at the first opportunity, is young and remorseful, and may have been labouring under mental instability, is capable of reform and these factors substantially mitigate the sentence for murder.

Legislation cited (4)

  • Penal Code Act s.188
  • Penal Code Act s.189
  • Judicature Act s.11
  • Constitution of Uganda art.23(8)

Cases cited (8)

  • Karisa Moses v Uganda [2019] UGSC 21
  • Makonzi Patrick v Uganda (Criminal Appeal No. 218 of 2010)
  • Aharindikundira Yusitina v Uganda [2018] UGSC 49
  • Ssemasanda Sperito and Anor v Uganda [2023] UGCA 200
  • Kizito Senkula v Uganda [2002] UGSC 36
  • Kabuye Senyewo v Uganda [2005] UGSC 23
  • Katende Ahamad v Uganda [2007] UGSC 11
  • Bukenya Joseph v Uganda [2013] UGSC 3
Source: this page presents Wakilii’s issue analysis and metadata for a publicly reported Ugandan judgment. Any AI-generated summary is marked as such. Judgment text is sourced from the Uganda Legal Information Institute (ulii.org). Wakilii is not affiliated with ULII.