Wakilii

Barongo John v Uganda (Criminal Appeal No. 0196 of 2025)

Court of Appeal · [2025] UGCA 187 · 2025 Appeal Dismissed ✦ AI-generated summary ↓ Download
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Criminal appeal against sentence from a High Court murder conviction
Decision
Appeal dismissed; appellant to continue serving the sentence of 23 years and 11 months' imprisonment.

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Holding

The appellant, convicted of murder and sentenced to 30 years' imprisonment (reduced to 23 years and 11 months after deducting remand time), appealed only against sentence as harsh and excessive. The Court of Appeal dismissed the State's preliminary objection that no leave to appeal against sentence had been sought, holding that section 132(1)(b) of the Trial on Indictment Act is not mandatory and leave may be sought informally during the hearing. On the merits, the court held it will not interfere with a trial judge's sentencing discretion unless the sentence is illegal or manifestly excessive. The trial judge had properly weighed the mitigating and aggravating factors, so the appeal was dismissed.

Facts

The appellant was indicted and convicted of murder. The deceased's husband (PW1) returned home in the rain to find the security lights off, the solar battery and bulbs missing, and his wife dead with a rope tied around her neck looped to the verandah roof timber, her knees on the ground. PW1 alerted his brother (PW2), who said the deceased had earlier reported by phone seeing the appellant removing the solar panel and bulbs from the roof. The matter was reported to police and the appellant was arrested by the community. A police search of his house recovered a red T-shirt, a pair of trousers and a plain shirt, all bearing blood stains. The appellant was tried, convicted and sentenced.

Issues

  1. Whether the appeal should be struck out for failure to seek leave to appeal against sentence alone under section 132(1)(b) of the Trial on Indictment Act.
  2. Whether the sentence imposed for murder was harsh and excessive such that the appellate court should interfere with the trial judge's sentencing discretion.

Orders

  • The preliminary objection is dismissed.
  • The appeal is dismissed.
  • The appellant shall continue to serve the sentence handed down by the trial court.

Key headnotes

Criminal Procedure — Appeals — Leave to appeal against sentence alone — Section 132(1)(b) Trial on Indictment Act
The requirement to obtain leave of the Court of Appeal to appeal against sentence alone under section 132(1)(b) of the Trial on Indictment Act is not mandatory, and such leave may be sought informally during the course of the hearing of the appeal.
Criminal Procedure — Appeals — Duty of the first appellate court to reappraise the evidence
A first appellate court is under a duty to reappraise the evidence and reconsider the materials before the trial judge, draw its own inferences of fact and reach its own conclusion, while giving due weight to the judgment appealed from.
Criminal Law — Sentencing — Appellate interference with sentencing discretion
Sentencing is a matter for the discretion of the trial judge, and an appellate court will not interfere with that discretion unless the sentence is illegal or is manifestly so excessive as to amount to an injustice.
Criminal Law — Sentencing — Murder — Weighing of mitigating and aggravating factors
Where a trial judge has weighed the relevant mitigating factors against the aggravating factors, applied the prescribed sentencing range and deducted the period spent on remand, an appellate court will find no basis to interfere with the resulting sentence.

Legislation cited (6)

  • Penal Code Act s.188
  • Penal Code Act s.189
  • Trial on Indictment Act Cap.23 s.132(1)(b)
  • Judicature (Court of Appeal Rules) Directions rule 43
  • Judicature (Court of Appeal Rules) Directions rule 30(1)
  • Constitution (Sentencing Guidelines for Courts of Judicature) (Practice) Directions, 2013, 3rd Schedule

Cases cited (11)

  • Mubiru v Uganda (Criminal Appeal No. 374 of 2019)
  • Kifamunte Henry v Uganda (Criminal Appeal No. 10 of 1997)
  • Kyalimpa Edward v Uganda (Criminal Appeal No. 10 of 1995)
  • R vs. De Haviland (1983) 5 Cr. App. R(s) 109
  • Ogalo s/o Owors vs. R (1954) 21 E.A.C.A. 270
  • R vs. Mohammed Jomal (1948) 15 E.A.C.A. 126
  • Boshasha Shariff v Uganda (Criminal Appeal No. 82 of 2018)
  • Uganda v Obong Tom (Criminal Case No. 124 of 2014)
  • Ahirikundira Yustine v Uganda [2018] UGSC 49
  • Uganda v Lydia Draru (Criminal Case No. 404 of 2010)
  • Akbar Hussein Godi v Uganda (Criminal Appeal No. 3 of 2013)
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.