Armed thugs murder money changer, flee with cash

Kampala. December 20, 2012 was a good day for money changers Robert Rudisha, Muzamil Ombaga, Jamal Mawa and Rasul Atiku. They had made a good turnover at their business points at Oraba Trading Centre in Koboko District.
Ombaga had Shs16 million and South Sudanese Pound 12,500. Others too had huge sums of money. Knowing the danger of carrying cash late, they decided to go back home before dusk.

Suddenly, a man dressed in civilian clothes armed with an AK-47 assault rifle ambushed them and started firing bullets randomly, sending everyone in panic. He ordered them to hand over their bags.
It was a matter of life and death. At that moment, the money didn’t matter. They all dropped the bags, which the gunman picked before jumping on a waiting boda boda motorcycle and sped off.
As they recovered from the shock, Mawa and Atiku realised that Rudisha was motionless while Ombaga too had sustained bullet wounds.

Gunshots that had been fired alarmed residents, who later came to help.
Ombaga was taken on a boda boda to the nearest health centre for treatment. Unfortunately, Rudisha had died on spot.
His death enraged the residents, but none could risk pursuing an armed group with bare hands.
The victims could have relied on the identities of the armed thugs and number plate of the motorcycle to catch them, but they were too shocked to clearly describe the suspects.
They decided to call police to intercept the armed thugs. What Mawa and other victims were sure of, however, is that the suspects were strangers in the area.

Description
They told the residents how the suspects were dressed. Residents searched for strangers with such description in the area without success.
Nearly an hour later, seven kilometres away at Keri Market, residents saw three strangers fitting the description they were informed about. The trio was riding a motorcycle and were heading to an isolated area.
The residents intercepted the motorcycle. The strangers identified themselves as Godfrey Atabua, Gasper Aziza and Patrick Asiandu. Asiandu told the residents that he found Atabua and Aziza on the way and offered them a ride for a pay.

He said he didn’t know much about them. Aziza and Asiandu told the residents that they were traders who were travelling from Busia to Koboko to buy khat.
The residents searched them, but they neither had a firearm nor the amount of money that had been reported stolen. This only angered the residents who started beating up the trio to reveal where they had hidden the money and the gun.
Fearing that the residents could lynch them, witnesses called police who resuced the men and detained them on a demeanour as a holding charge as they looked for the victims.

The following day, the victims went to the police and an identification parade was done in which Aziza and Asiandu were identified as the attackers.
Police detectives recorded statements of the three victims who also narrated the ordeal on the fateful day.
Rudisha’s body was taken for a post-mortem before it was handed over his relatives for burial while Ombaga remained in hospital for more than a month.

Officers led by Superintendent Edison Muganzi charged the three suspects with charges to murder and aggravated robbery. The suspects denied the allegations.
However, prosecution saw overwhelming evidence against the suspects and sanctioned the file. The trio were produced in court and remanded to prison.

When the suspects appeared before the High Court, they denied the charges.
Prosecutors had to prove that Rudisha died and that his death was unlawful and premeditated. They also had to show court that the suspects were at the scene of crime on the fateful day and participated in the crime.
On the second charge of armed robbery, the State had to prove that the money was stolen through violent means and that a deadly weapon was used. In the trial, Atiku told court that he saw Aziza firing several bullets and one hit Rudisha who died on the spot. He added that after the shooting, Aziza and Asiandu picked the bags that contained the money and fled the scene. Atiku’s colleagues made similar testimonies in court.

During the trial, court ruled that Atabua had no case to answer and he was acquitted, but Aziza and Asiandu were ordered to defend themselves.
The duo maintained that they were not at the scene on the fateful day. The defence lawyers argued that their clients could not be accused of aggravated robbery and shooting a person to death when the killer weapon had not been presented in court.
The lawyers also asked court to disregard the aggravated robbery offence since the stolen money, which the police officers claimed to have recovered from the accused, was printed a year after the incident.

Inconsistent evidence
In the judgment, Justice Stephen Mubiru agreed with the defence lawyers that most of the bank notes that were brought to court as exhibits were printed in 2013 whereas the offence was committed a year before the incident.
“In the absence of a satisfactory explanation for this anomaly, I have decided to disregard this part of the evidence as proof of this ingredient (theft),” Justice Mubiru said.
However, he considered the testimony given by the victims as proof that the money was stolen.
On whether Aziza and Asiandu participated in committing the crime, Justice Mubiru said the victims were able to identify the accused on the identification parade.
He said the State had placed Aziza and Asiandu at the scene of crime on the fateful day.

“I find that the prosecution has proved all the essential ingredients of count I, beyond reasonable doubt and I hereby convict Aziza and Asiandu for the offence of murder contrary to Section 188 and 189 of the Penal Code Act,” the judge said.
“I find that the prosecution has proved all the essential ingredients… I hereby convict Aziza and Asiandu for the offence of aggravated robbery contrary to Section 285 and 286 (2) of the Penal Code Act,” he added.
On August 16, 2016, Aziza and Asiandu were sentenced to life imprisonment for murder. Each was also sentenced 15 years for the offence of aggravated robbery.
The court also ordered them to refund the money that was stolen and also compensate those who were injured in the attack.

Judge mubiru’s ruling

The two offences were motivated by greed and a callous disregard for life in pursuit of material property. In light of those considerations, the convicts deserve to spend the rest of their natural lives in prison. I therefore, hereby sentence the convicts, Aziza and Asiandu, to life imprisonment in respect of count I.
Bearing in mind the circumstances of this case, both the aggravating and mitigating factors mentioned earlier, I consider a deterrent sentence befitting both the nature of the crime and the antecedents of the two convicts. For that reason, I further sentence the convicts, Aziza and Asiandu, each to 18 years imprisonment in respect of count II of aggravated robbery. The sentences in respect of counts I and II are to run concurrently.

Section 286 (4) of the Penal Code Act, enjoins the court to make an order of compensation provided that before making such an order, there must be evidence before court as to the injury or loss suffered by the person to whom the compensation is to be paid.
In this case, there was evidence that Mawa was shot and sustained a gunshot wound in the process of commission of the two offences for which the two have been convicted. He was admitted in Maracha hospital for 14 days. In light of the injury, each of the convicts is to compensate Mawa Shs500,000.
There was evidence that Ombaga lost Shs16.8m and SSP12,500 to both convicts, which money has never been recovered. Both convicts are to pay in equal shares, Shs16.8m and SSP12,500 to Ombaga.
The convicts are advised that they have a right of appeal against both conviction and sentence within a period of 14 days.

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