Court convicts man of killing five children in road crash
The ill-fated salon car which killed five children and injured three others in July this year. PHOTO | FILE
What you need to know:
- Magistrate Maurice Oburo, found Hamis Musa guilty of killing five children and injuring three others in a road crash that occurred at Kabengo Village along Sembabule-Gomba Road
Sembabule Grade One Magistrate has convicted a man accused of killing five children in a road crash leaving three others injured.
Magistrate Maurice Oburo, found Hamis Musa guilty of killing five children and injuring three others in a road crash that occurred at Kabengo Village along Sembabule-Gomba Road.
Prosecution led by Jackeline Bakko told the court on Friday that Musa caused the death of Winnie Namata, Macklin Nabadda, Scovia Babirye, Noeline Nabayego, and Joanita Nalubega on July 16, 2022, when they were returning home from St. Gonza Gonzaga Catholic Church.
Their colleagues; Agatha Bavugayabo, Christine Ndagire, and Molly Nanyonga were survived with critical injuries. The children were returning home after attending catechism classes.
The prosecution preferred 10 counts against Musa, including five counts of causing death, three counts of causing bodily harm, one count of uttering false news and one count of driving recklessly.
“The death of the children was caused by the vehicle which Musa was driving recklessly leaving three others injured and leaving their families traumatised by the incident,” she said, asking court to convict the accused.
The presiding magistrate agreed with the prosecution, convicting Musa before setting November 22 as the date for sentencing.
However, some of the victims’ parents raised concerns over the state’s decision of selective prosecution of the driver, leaving the other occupants of the vehicle including its owner to go scot-free.
They claim that although the people were arrested following the incident, only the driver was prosecuted and wondered why the owner of the car that killed the children was not prosecuted.
“We are still struggling with raising treatment fees for the children that were injured in the traffic crash. We need to get justice for our children by having all people that were involved prosecuted. We also ask the government to help us foot the medical bills of the injured children,” Mr Paul Mubiru, one of the relatives of the crash victims, said.
