TWO SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER OF NDIGA CLAN LEADER ENG. DANIEL BBOSA

 

Noah Luggya left and Ttabula who have been sentenced to death

By PETER SSUUNA

The High Court Criminal Division in Kampala has sentenced two men to death by hanging after finding them guilty of the murder of Eng. Daniel Bbosa Kakeedo, the former head (Lwomwa) of the Ndiga Clan.

Justice Daniel Matovu on Tuesday sentenced Bbosa Tabula Luggya (principal offender) and Noah Bbosa Luggya (co-accused) following their plea of guilty to murder contrary to Sections 188 and 189 of the Penal Code Act.

The court entered a conviction on their own plea after the accused persons reaffirmed their guilty plea and admitted to all facts as presented by the State.

Prosecution's case

Led by the State Attorney, the prosecution told court that the convicts, along with others still at large and one deceased Enock Sserunkuuma  conspired to murder the deceased between November 2023 and February 2024.

Court heard that between November and December 2023, the convicts held several planning meetings at the home of the 1st convict in Mpigi District, where they resolved to eliminate the deceased over a clan leadership dispute.

Noah Luggya

The prosecution adduced that Tabula financed the mission by selling a parcel of land belonging to his sister, Harriet Nakiguli. The court further heard that upon learning that the deceased would preside over a clan installation ceremony in Mukono District on February 25, 2024, the convicts heightened their plan.

On the material day, the prosecution submitted, the convicts trailed the deceased's vehicle on motorcycle Reg. No. UEX 754E from Kampala to Mukono and back, as corroborated by CCTV footage. At approximately 17:55 hours at Kikandwa, Lungujja, Lubaga Division, they waylaid the deceased near his residence and shot him dead.

According to the statement of Noah Luggya, he was the rider while Sserunkuuma was the gunman who discharged the fatal shots using an AK-47 rifle, caliber 7.62mm, which Tabula had exhumed from Tikkalu, Nansana.

Arrest and exhibits

Court heard that residents who heard gunshots pursued the convicts and arrested them in Bulange A Zone after the firearm fell into the motorcycle spokes. Sserunkuuma was lynched by a mob, while Noah Luggya was rescued by police.

The State tendered in evidence: the murder weapon, postmortem report from Mulago National Referral Hospital confirming death by gunshot wounds, extra-judicial statements of the convicts, NIRA identification records, URA records proving the motorcycle number plate UEX 754E was forged (genuine number UFX 754F), mobile phones, the bag used to conceal the gun, cartridge casings, and video footage of the arrest.

The late Lwomwa, Eng. Bbosa Kakeedo

Allocutus and Sentencing

In his allocutus, the 1st convict, Tabula, broke down, pleaded for leniency, and sought forgiveness from the bereaved family. He told court his motive was a dispute over clan leadership and property, claiming he was the rightful Lwomwa.

In her victim impact statement, the widow, Ms. Gladys Bbosa Nabisenke, asked court to impose the maximum penalty, stating the family had suffered irreparable loss.

Justice Matovu, in his sentencing ruling, held that murder is a capital offence that attracts the maximum penalty of death. He noted that the offence was premeditated, executed with extreme brutality, and orchestrated over several months.

"The convicts planned and executed the murder of an innocent clan leader in cold blood. The aggravating factors outweigh the mitigating factors. They deserve to suffer the same fate they visited on the deceased," Justice Matovu ruled.

He accordingly sentenced both convicts to death by hanging. The convicts have a right of appeal within 14 days.