Wakilii

Odeke & 2 Others v Uganda (Criminal Appeal 63 of 2019)

Supreme Court · [2025] UGSC 16 · 2025 Appeal Dismissed ✦ AI-generated summary ↓ Download
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
Second criminal appeal to the Supreme Court against sentence, from the Court of Appeal's dismissal of an appeal from a High Court murder conviction and sentence
Decision
Appeal dismissed; 25-year sentences of imprisonment against each appellant upheld

The full judgment

Read the complete, verbatim text of this judgment.

Sign in to read the full judgment

AI-generated summary. This summary was generated by AI from the full text of the judgment. It may contain errors or omissions — always read the source judgment before relying on it.

Holding

The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal, holding that under section 5(3) of the Judicature Act an appellant may appeal against sentence only on a matter of law, not on the ground of severity. Although the appellants framed their ground as challenging an illegal sentence inconsistent with judicial precedent, the Court found this was a disguised complaint about the harshness of the 25-year sentence. The sentences raised no question of law warranting the Court's intervention, and the Court would not examine severity. The 25-year sentence imposed on each appellant for murder was upheld.

Facts

The three appellants were indicted for murder contrary to sections 188 and 189 of the Penal Code Act. On 11 June 2007 they went to the home of the deceased, Atebat Aiseri. By his confession, the first appellant admitted luring the deceased to a garden where he strangled her, then sought the help of the second and third appellants. The trio dumped the body in a bush behind her pit latrine. A week later the body was recovered by the deceased's grandchild, and investigations led to the appellants' arrest. On arrest, the second and third appellants made charge-and-caution statements implicating themselves and the first appellant. The High Court at Jinja convicted all three and sentenced each to 25 years' imprisonment. The Court of Appeal dismissed their appeals against conviction and sentence. The appellants appealed to the Supreme Court only against sentence, seeking substitution of the 25-year term with 20 years.

Issues

  1. Whether the Supreme Court had jurisdiction to entertain the appeal, given that an appeal against sentence lies only on a matter of law under section 5(3) of the Judicature Act.
  2. Whether the appeal, framed as a challenge to an illegal sentence inconsistent with precedent, was in substance a disguised appeal against the severity of the sentence.

Orders

  • The appeal is dismissed.
  • The sentence of 25 years' imprisonment as imposed against each of the three appellants is upheld.

Key headnotes

Criminal Law & Procedure — Appeals — Supreme Court jurisdiction over sentence under section 5(3) of the Judicature Act
Under section 5(3) of the Judicature Act, an appellant may appeal to the Supreme Court against a sentence only on a matter of law and not on the ground of the severity of the sentence; there is no right of appeal to the Supreme Court against the severity of a sentence.
Criminal Law & Procedure — Appeals — Disguised appeals against severity of sentence
An appeal presented as raising a question of law, such as inconsistency of a sentence with judicial precedent, will be treated as an appeal against the severity of the sentence where its substance is a complaint that the sentence is harsh or excessive, and such an appeal does not fall within the Supreme Court's jurisdiction under section 5(3) of the Judicature Act.
Criminal Law & Procedure — Sentencing — Appellate deference to sentencing discretion
Appellate courts will ordinarily defer to the sentencing discretion of the trial and intermediate appellate courts and will not interfere unless the sentence raises a question of law.

Legislation cited (4)

  • Penal Code Act s.188
  • Penal Code Act s.189
  • Judicature Act s.5(3)
  • Constitution of Uganda art.132

Cases cited (8)

  • Kiwalabye Bernard v Uganda (Criminal Appeal No. 143 of 2001)
  • Kamya Abdullah & 4 Others v Uganda (Criminal Appeal No. 24 of 2015)
  • Aharikundira Yustina v Uganda (Criminal Appeal No. 27 of 2015)
  • Karisa Moses v Uganda (Criminal Appeal No. 23 of 2016)
  • Akbar Godi v Uganda (Criminal Appeal No. 3 of 2013)
  • Abelle Asuman v Uganda (Criminal Appeal No. 66 of 2016)
  • Okello Geoffrey v Uganda (Criminal Appeal No. 34 of 2014)
  • Nzabaikukize Jamada v Uganda [2017] UGSC 30
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.