Wakilii

Uganda v Mukwaya alias Boy and Another (Criminal Session Case 145 of 2024)

High Court · [2025] UGHC 113 · 2025 Conviction Upheld (A2); Acquittal (A1) AI-generated summary ↓ Download Pin to watchlist Add to matter
Jurisdiction
Uganda
Case Type
First instance criminal trial for murder arising from Kakumiro Criminal Case No. 514/2023
Decision
A2 convicted of double murder and sentenced to 30 years' imprisonment. A1 acquitted and discharged.

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

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Holding

Held that A2 (Bigabwa Deogratius) was guilty of the murder of Byaruhanga Clovis and Nyakojjo Richard on the basis of circumstantial evidence that he invited the deceased persons to collect a cow, they disappeared after leaving for his location, and his alibi was discredited by contradictions and failure to disclose it to police. A1 (Mukwaya John alias Boy) was acquitted as he did not participate in luring the deceased. A2 was sentenced to 30 years' imprisonment on each of two counts to run concurrently.

Outcome

A2 convicted of double murder and sentenced to 30 years' imprisonment. A1 acquitted and discharged.

Facts

On 6 July 2023, Byaruhanga Clovis and his son Nyakojjo Richard left home to collect a cow offered as a gift by A2 (Bigabwa Deogratius) at his place in Mpeefu. The two deceased persons were last seen alive on this journey. Their bodies were later found on the roadside in Kyenzige, Kagadi District, with marks indicating they had been tied and strangled. A motorcycle was found beside them, arranged to suggest an accident. Post-mortem examinations revealed death by manual strangulation, not a road accident. The families of Byaruhanga Clovis and his brother Kasiba Deogratius (father of the accused) had been in conflict over family land. After Kasiba's death, it was believed that Byaruhanga Clovis was responsible. A2's invitation of his uncle for a cow was initially viewed as a gesture of reconciliation. When the deceased did not return, A2 claimed he had cancelled the meeting and travelled to Mukono, while a co-inviter, Birungi Vincent (still at large), claimed he was unaware of the meeting. Police arrested A1 and A2 approximately one year later.

Issues

  1. Whether the death of Byaruhanga Clovis and Nyakojjo Richard occurred.
  2. Whether the death of the deceased persons was unlawfully caused.
  3. Whether the death of the deceased persons was caused with malice aforethought.
  4. Whether the accused persons participated in causing the death of the deceased persons.
  5. Whether the accused persons' alibis were credible.

Orders

  • A2 (Bigabwa Deogratius) convicted of two counts of murder.
  • A2 sentenced to 30 years' imprisonment on Count I.
  • A2 sentenced to 30 years' imprisonment on Count II.
  • Sentences to run concurrently.
  • A2 to serve 29 years and 4 months on each count after deducting 8 months on remand.
  • A1 (Mukwaya John alias Boy) acquitted and discharged.

Rules and key headnotes

Evidence — Circumstantial Evidence — Standard for Conviction
Where the prosecution case depends solely on circumstantial evidence, the court must find that the inculpatory facts are incompatible with the innocence of the accused and incapable of explanation upon any other reasonable hypothesis than that of guilt, and there must be no other co-existing circumstances which weaken or destroy the inference of guilt.
Criminal Law — Alibi Defence — Duty of Accused and Timing
An accused person who puts forward an alibi does not assume the burden to prove it; the accused's only duty is to account for his whereabouts at the time the offence was committed. However, if a person's defence is an alibi, he should bring it forward as soon as he can, lest it be regarded as a mere afterthought.
Criminal Law — Murder — Malice Aforethought — Strangulation
Manual strangulation of the neck, a vulnerable part of the body, demonstrates malice aforethought because the act of strangling causes suffocation making death inevitable, from which it is clear that the perpetrator intended to cause death.
Evidence — Alibi — Credibility Assessment — Contradictions and Omissions
An alibi may be discredited where the accused fails to mention it in his statement to police despite its importance, where there are material contradictions between the accused's evidence and that of his supporting witness, and where the accused insists on a version of events contradicted by overwhelming objective evidence.

Legislation cited (4)

Cases cited (14)

  • Woolmington v DPP [1935] AC 562
  • Lubega v Uganda [1967] EA 440
  • Mukobe v Uganda (Supreme Court Criminal Appeal No. 121 of 1995)
  • Gusambuzi s/o Wesonga v R [1948] 15 EACA 65
  • Mugao & Anor v R [1972] EA 543
  • Tubere v R [1945] 12 EACA 63
  • Byaruhanga Fodori v Uganda (Supreme Court Criminal Appeal No. 18 of 2002)
  • Musoke v R [1958] EA 715
  • Moses Bogere & Anor v Uganda (Supreme Court Criminal Appeal No. 1 of 1997)
  • Uganda v Aryampa Jackson & Ors (High Court Criminal Session No. 166 of 2012)
  • R v Sukha & Ors [1939] EACA 145
  • Kyaterekera George v Uganda (Court of Appeal Criminal Appeal No. 113 of 2010)
  • Hon. Godi Akbar v Uganda (Supreme Court Criminal Appeal No. 3 of 2013)
  • Tusingwire Samuel v Uganda (Court of Appeal Criminal Appeal No. 110 of 2007)

Full judgment

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

Uganda v Mukwaya alias Boy and Another (Criminal Session Case 145 of 2024) [2025] UGHC 113 (26 February 2025)
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.