Court of Appeal quashes murder convict’s 50-year sentence, orders retrial

The Court of Appeal in Kampala has ordered for retrial of a man sentenced to 50 years in jail for murder after records of court proceedings in his trial disappeared without a trace.

Wilson Mugisha was, in November 2, 2010, convicted of murder and sentenced to 50 years in Luzira maximum security prison by then High Court judge, Simon Byabakama who is now the Electoral Commission chairman.

Upon conviction, Mugisha was told by Justice Byabakama that he was free to appeal if he was dissatisfied with his decision.

Consequently, Mugisha filed a notice of appeal but was unable to secure a copy of the proceedings and judgment against him from the High Court.

According to the appeal records, the High Court confirmed the total loss of Mugisha’s trial court record of proceedings after which the appellant then lodged a Memorandum of Appeal whose sole ground was the trial Court’s failure to provide him with his trial record to enable him pursue his appeal.

A panel of three judges, led by Justice Geoffrey Kiryabwire ruled that before they could take leave of the appeal, they were disappointed by the fact that all court proceedings of the trial in Mugisha’s case went missing without a trace. The judges further said there could have been “an evil hand of corruption behind this.”

“We accordingly, set aside the conviction and sentence of 50 years imprisonment of the appellant for the offence of murder contrary to sections 188 and 189 of the Penal Code Act on grounds that the trial record of the High Court case No. 43 of 2008 went missing. We order for a retrial of the appellant before the High Court for the same offence of murder,” the appeal verdict reads in part.

Other judges on the panel were; Justice Catherine Bamugemereire and Justice Remmy Kasule.

The judges, however, noted that Mugisha will remain in prison pending the re-institution of the trial proceedings and it shall be court conducting his re-trial to entertain any application for bail.

They directed that a copy of their judgment be passed over to the Principle Judge as head of the High Court for a thorough investigation and disciplinary action against whoever is found to have been responsible  for the disappearance of the  Court record.

The judges also ordered for the judgment to be copied to all registrars throughout the country and a copy sent to the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) with orders that the High Court Registrar fixes the matter for retrial as soon as possible.

bndagire@ug.nationmedia.com