Supreme Court Upholds 30 Year Sentence for Kabale Man Who Murdered His 3 Year Old Son

The Supreme Court has upheld the 30 year jail sentence handed to a man who killed his 3 year old son and threw his lifeless body in a pit latrine.

Five Justices of the Supreme Court; Esther Kisakye;  Stella Arach Amoko;  Paul Mugamba;  Richard Buteera and Mike Chibita ruled that  Nsabimana Richard’s appeal had no merit and they dismissed it.

The Justices maintained that they were  satisfied that the Court of Appeal properly re-evaluated all the evidence on record in respect to the defence of insanity by Nsabimana before upholding the decision of Kabale High Court that first convicted and sentenced him to death in 2014.

However; Nsabimana appealed against the death sentence in the Court of Appeal and in 2016 it was quashed and replaced with 30 years but his insanity claim was dismissed for lack of evidence.

Now the Supreme Court has observed that in the event that the Convict has developed mental illness while in prison;  the prisons authorities must ensure that he urgently receives the requisite medical attention.

On 14th February, 2005 Nsabimana went to the house of his son Uwimana Derrick’s mother, at midnight and demanded for his 3 year old son saying  that he wanted to spend the night with him;  and days later the child’ lifeless body was retrieved in a pit latrine wrapped inside a blanket.

Nsabimana then claimed that he had a mental disorder at the time he committed the offence but the Medical Report and people who knew him well including his wife testified that he was normal.

The Supreme Court of Uganda is the highest judicial organ in the country. It derives its powers from Article 130 of the 1995 Constitution. It is primarily an appellate court with original jurisdiction in only one type of case: a presidential election petition.