Wakilii

Bwarenga Adonia v Uganda (Criminal Appeal 45 of 2016)

Supreme Court · [2020] UGSC 23 · 2020 Appeal Dismissed ✦ AI-generated summary ↓ Download
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Second criminal appeal against sentence only, from the Court of Appeal.
Decision
Appeal against sentence dismissed; the 30-year sentence on each of the two counts of murder upheld.

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Holding

The appellant, convicted of two counts of murder and sentenced to death (reduced by the Court of Appeal to 30 years on each count), appealed on the sole ground that the sentence was illegal because the Court of Appeal had not arithmetically deducted his remand period as required by Rwabugande Moses v Uganda. The Supreme Court held that Rwabugande was decided on 3 March 2017, after the Court of Appeal's judgment of 6 December 2016, and so the arithmetical-deduction requirement did not apply. The Court of Appeal had taken the four-year remand period into account in accordance with the law and precedent then in force and could not be faulted. The sentence was not illegal; the appeal was dismissed.

Facts

A man killed his wife, whom he suspected of infidelity, and then went into hiding. In revenge for that killing, the appellant and his cohorts, relatives of the deceased woman, went on a rampage in the village and surrounding areas. Armed with spears and pangas, they killed a number of relatives of the wife's killer and of the alleged male adulterer, none of whom had participated in the original killing. The appellant was identified as having participated in the killing of two persons. He was indicted on two counts of murder contrary to sections 188 and 189 of the Penal Code Act, tried, convicted and sentenced to death by the High Court. On appeal, the Court of Appeal varied the death sentence to 30 years imprisonment on each count, having taken into account the four years the appellant had spent on remand before conviction.

Issues

  1. Whether the sentence of 30 years imprisonment imposed by the Court of Appeal was illegal for failing to deduct the period spent on remand in the arithmetical manner required by Rwabugande Moses v Uganda.

Orders

  • Sentence of 30 years imprisonment imposed by the Court of Appeal upheld.
  • Appeal dismissed.

Key headnotes

Criminal Procedure — Second Appeal Against Sentence — Scope of Appellate Jurisdiction
On a second appeal against sentence under section 5(3) of the Judicature Act, the Supreme Court's role is restricted to determining the legality of the sentence and does not extend to its severity.
Sentencing — Deduction of Remand Period — Temporal Application of Rwabugande
The requirement that the period spent on remand be deducted from a sentence in an arithmetical manner, established in Rwabugande Moses v Uganda, does not apply to sentences imposed before that decision was delivered on 3 March 2017.
Sentencing — Deduction of Remand Period — Compliance Before Rwabugande
A sentencing court that took the remand period into account before the decision in Rwabugande acted in accordance with the law and judicial precedent then in force and cannot be faulted, and its sentence is not rendered illegal.

Legislation cited (3)

  • Penal Code Act s.188
  • Penal Code Act s.189
  • Judicature Act s.5(3)

Cases cited (6)

  • Rwabugande Moses v Uganda (Criminal Appeal No. 25 of 2014)
  • Abelle Asuman v Uganda (Criminal Appeal No. 66 of 2016)
  • Kizito Senkula v Uganda (Criminal Appeal No. 24 of 2001)
  • Kabuye Senvewo v Uganda (Criminal Appeal No. 2 of 2002)
  • Katende Ahamed v Uganda (Criminal Appeal No. 6 of 2004)
  • Bukenya Joseph v Uganda (Criminal Appeal No. 17 of 2010)
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.