Isaac Ssenabulya, who confessed to murdering former social worker Maria Nagirinya and her driver Ronald Kitayimbwa, has been sentenced to 40 years in jail.
High Court Judge Isaac Muwata, who sentenced Ssenabulya on Wednesday, said he will serve 40 years each on two accounts.
But he directed that he serves the sentences concurrently. He also said that the convict will serve 37 years given the fact that he had spent three years on remand since his arrest in 2019.
Justice Muwata explained that he had taken into account the fact that the convict was a first-time offender, who didn’t waste the court’s time and had apologized to the deceased’s families.
He noted that Ssenabulya is a young energetic man who can fend for himself other than resort to unlawful means for survival. He added that the murder put a big impact on the families of the victims. Ssenabulya is one of the seven suspects who were picked in connection to the kidnap and murder of the duo on August 28, 2019.
The other suspects included Raymond Marcos Okori, Isaac Ssenabulya alias Kisunsu, Hamza Kateregga alias Arsenal, John Kisekka alias Manumanu, John Lubega aka Barros, Hasan Kisekka, and Ivan Mutagubya.
However, on Tuesday, the state Attorney, Jonathan Muwaganya presented a letter from the DPP indicating that she was longer interested in prosecuting Okori prompting Justice Muwata to order his immediate release.
Prosecution led by Mr Jonathan Muwaganya and Mr Timothy Emerit told court that on August 28, 2019, the suspects and others still at large at Nabisasiro Zone in Rubaga, Kampala and Mukono District kidnapped Nagirinya and Kitayimbwa and murdered them.
On August 28, hitmen grabbed Nagirinya, a former employee of the Community Integrated Development Initiative and Kitayimbwa from the gate of the former’s residence in the Lungujja suburb.
The police tracked the deceased’s car which was located in the Kitooro zone in Nateete before they found the bodies on a secluded piece of land off Kayunga Road, some six kilometres from Mukono Town on August 30.