Court orders Uneb to present results of accused in Rakai school fire case

Masaka High Court has ordered Uganda National Examinations Board (Uneb) and St. Bernard’s Secondary School, Maanya in Rakai District to provide the Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) result slip of one of the students accused of torching a dormitory at the learning institution.

The order issued by Masaka High Court Judge Victoria Nakintu Katamba came after defense lawyer Sam Ssekyewa told court that they had not filed affidavits in response to submissions by Chief State Attorney Noah Kunya on one of three ex-student applicants seeking stay of their trial.

Ssekyewa told court that the State refused to file the UCE result slip of applicant Henry Taremwa, yet it's key in helping court to know the age of the accused person.

“We were served on Friday [last week] and upon careful perusal of the submissions of the State, we noticed that the respondents, (State) attached UCE result slips of 2018 for Alex Mugarura (the second applicant) and Dickson Kisule (fourth applicant) but the ones of the first applicant (Taremwa) were not attached, yet all the applicants were in the same cohort that sat S4 at St. Bernard’s Maanya SS in 2018,” he said.

He added: “We believe the sole intention of not attaching the results slip of Taremwa is to suppress evidence so that the truth will never be known by this court, since the said pass lip would reveal the actual age of the applicant.”

Ssekyewa asked court to issue an order for the head teacher of St Bernard’s SS to avail a copy of the UCE pass lip of Taremwa, to enable defence lawyers to file an affidavit.

Kunya told court that the applicants had sued a wrong party, noting that the application is against Uganda, yet Uganda cannot be sued in a civil matter.

But in her ruling, Justice Nakintu said: “I agree with the applicant’s counsel (Ssekyewa) that without filing their affidavit in reply, pleadings are not yet closed, and he has advanced good reasons for not doing so in time.”

“It is imperative that Uneb and the school furnish court with results slips of Taremwa. It is critically important to establish the ages of the three applicants who were students at the time the offense,” she added.

Prosecution alleges that the accused persons, who were all students at the same school and self-employed Edison Niyo plus others still at large, killed Remigious Tamale and 9 other students in a November 11, 2028, school fire at St. Bernard’s SS Maanya in Rakai District. 

Last week, the accused filed an application seeking to stay their trial, citing violations of their human rights by keeping them on remand for more than five years without trial.