Wakilii

Uganda v Makeri and 3 Others (Criminal Session 183 of 2018)

High Court · [2021] UGHCCRD 15 · 2021 Acquittal Entered AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
First instance criminal trial for murder following not guilty plea
Decision
All accused persons acquitted and discharged

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

Held that the prosecution failed to prove an essential ingredient of murder — that the accused persons were responsible for the death of the deceased. None of the prosecution witnesses directly implicated any accused person in the killing. Suspicion based on alleged prior threats and a love triangle cannot ground a conviction. The accused persons were acquitted and discharged under section 73 Trial on Indictment Act.

Outcome

All accused persons acquitted and discharged

Facts

On 6 October 2017 at Budukulu village, Kibuku District, the deceased Kasio Zadok was found dead behind a pit latrine. The deceased's wife (A4) was found injured. The prosecution alleged that the four accused persons murdered the deceased with malice aforethought. Evidence showed that A3 was allegedly in a relationship with the deceased's wife (A4), and that A1, A2, and A3 had threatened the deceased over this relationship. The prosecution tendered a postmortem report showing death by sharp force injuries and poisoning. Three prosecution witnesses testified about finding the body and the alleged love triangle and threats, but none witnessed the killing or directly implicated any accused person in the death.

Issues

  1. Whether the prosecution established a prima facie case requiring the accused persons to enter their defence.
  2. Whether the prosecution proved that the accused persons were responsible for the death of the deceased.

Orders

  • Accused persons A1 (Makeri William), A2 (Koboi John), and A3 (Mpyangu James) found not guilty of the offence of Murder.
  • Accused persons acquitted and discharged under Section 73 Trial on Indictment Act.

Rules and key headnotes

Criminal Law & Procedure — Murder — Prima Facie Case — Essential Ingredients
Where the prosecution has adduced no evidence to prove an essential ingredient of the alleged offence, or where the evidence has been so discredited or is manifestly unreliable that no reasonable court could safely convict on it, a prima facie case has not been established and the accused must be acquitted.
Evidence — Suspicion — Insufficiency to Ground Conviction
Suspicion, however strong, can never be a basis for conviction in a criminal case. The prosecution must adduce positive evidence linking the accused to the commission of the offence.
Evidence — Threats — Admissibility and Probative Value in Murder Cases
Evidence of a prior threat or announced intention to kill is admissible against a person accused of murder, but its probative value varies greatly and may be very small or even amount to nothing where no other evidence connects the accused to the killing.

Legislation cited (4)

Cases cited (3)

  • Bhatt v R [1957] EA 322
  • Uganda v Wabomba and 6 Others (Mbale High Court Criminal Session No. 146 of 2018)
  • Waihi and Another v Uganda [1968] EA 278

Full judgment

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The original judgment as reported. Read the original PDF before relying on any passage.

Uganda v Makeri and 3 Others (Criminal Session 183 of 2018) [2021] UGHCCRD 15 (10 February 2021)
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.