Kafero Sande v Uganda (Criminal Appeal No. 508 of 2015)

Court of Appeal · [2024] UGCA 374 · 2024 Sentence Reduced ✦ AI-generated summary ↓ Download

Jurisdiction

Uganda

Case Type

Criminal appeal against sentence from a High Court conviction on a plea of guilty

Decision

Appeal allowed on sentence; 20-year sentence reduced to 19 years' imprisonment after crediting one year spent on remand.

The full judgment

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Holding

On an appeal against a 20-year sentence for aggravated defilement following a guilty plea, the Court of Appeal held that Article 23(8) of the Constitution makes it mandatory that a sentencing court specifically credit the period an accused spent on remand. Following Rwabugande Moses v Uganda, the Court held that a sentence couched in terms that merely lump the remand period with other factors is ambiguous and cannot be taken as accounting for remand. Because the trial Judge had not demonstrated that the one year spent on remand was credited, the Court deducted that year and substituted a sentence of 19 years' imprisonment.

Facts

The appellant pleaded guilty to aggravated defilement contrary to sections 129(3) and (4)(a) of the Penal Code Act. The particulars were that on 20 October 2010, at Busana Trading Centre in Kayunga District, he unlawfully performed a sexual act with a girl aged two years. On 9 November 2011 the High Court at Mukono convicted him on his own plea and sentenced him to 20 years' imprisonment. The appellant had spent one year on remand prior to sentencing. In sentencing, the trial Judge stated only that, considering all the reasons given, the convict was sentenced to 20 years, without demonstrating that the remand period had been taken into account and credited.

Issues

Whether the trial Judge imposed an illegal sentence by failing to take into account and specifically credit the period the appellant spent on remand, as required by Article 23(8) of the Constitution.

Orders

Appeal succeeds.
The one year spent on remand is deducted and the appellant is sentenced to 19 years' imprisonment, to be served from the date of conviction.
If the appellant has already served that period, he is to be set free forthwith unless held on other charges.

Key headnotes

Sentencing — Remand Period — Mandatory Crediting under Article 23(8) of the Constitution

Article 23(8) of the Constitution makes it mandatory, not discretionary, that a sentencing court take into account and specifically credit the period a convict has spent in lawful custody before completion of trial when imposing the term of imprisonment.

Sentencing — Legality — Lumping Remand Period with Other Mitigating Factors

The remand period is a necessarily arithmetical deduction that must be specifically credited and cannot be lumped together with discretionary mitigating factors; a sentence couched in terms that fail to show the remand period was credited is ambiguous and renders the sentence liable to correction.

Legislation cited (4)

Penal Code Act s.129(3) & (4)(a)
Criminal Procedure Code Act s.31(3)
Judicature Act s.11
Constitution of Uganda Article 23(8)

Cases cited (1)

Rwabugande Moses v Uganda (Criminal Appeal No. 25 of 2014)

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.