Court sentences councillor to 10 years in jail for leading lynch mob

Police officers rescue Kyendo and attempt to take him to hospital but he dies on the way.

What you need to know:

  • Bad leader. Geoffrey Semanda Mwesige, a councillor representing Kakooge Sub-county in Nakasongola District Council, incited a mob to lynch Ali Kyendo, who they accused of having a hand in the killing of a boda boda cyclist and stealing his motorcycle.

KAMPALA.

On April 28, 2012, a boda boda cyclist in Kakooge Town Council, Nakasongola District was killed by criminals who made off with his motorcycle.
The criminals posed as passengers and convinced him to take them to an isolated place where they killed him and stole his motorcycle.

The following day some people said Ali Kyendo had a hand in the crime and residents arrested him.
They marched the suspect towards Katuugo Police Post with a view to hand him over to police officers.
However, a few kilometres to the police post, the mob became rowdy, with some people attempting to beat up the suspect.

Police officers arrived and calmed down the crowd and took the suspect away.
However, a short while later, all hell broke loose when a group of angry men surrounded the officers and forced them to hand over the suspect.

Rashid Kabugo, a crime preventer in Kakooge Sub-county, said later in a police statement that the men, who were armed with sticks and stones, told the officers that they would not allow the suspect to be taken to the police post.

“They said they didn’t have faith in the police officers to deliver justice to the person who had killed one of their community members. They insisted on the police officers handing over the suspect to them to kill him,” Kabugo said.
Police officers declined and insisted on proceeding to the police post. The enraged men forcibly grabbed the suspect.
The officers fired bullets in the air to scare away to no avail.

The men began beating up Kyendo and they were joined by other people. He was hit with sticks and pelted with stones as the officers looked on helplessly.
The angry mob dragged Kyendo from one village to the other.

When they reached a trading centre, they piled old car tyres on his battered body and poured petrol on him before setting him on fire.
The mob watched him scream in pain as his body went up in flames, preventing anyone from rescuing him.
It is only when he stopped moving and screaming that the mob dispersed.
The officers then got an opportunity to try to save Kyendo’s life.

They extinguished the fire and tried to rush Kyendo to the hospital on a motorcycle but he died on the way.
Detective Assistant Superintendent of Police (D/ASP) Stephen Osele and other officers, who were at the scene, picked stones and sticks used to assault the suspect and went with them.

A dozen people were arrested at the scene on suspicion of involvement in the lynching of Kyendo.
Detective Corporal (D/Cpl) Grace Nakajja was assigned to investigate the case.

All the suspects denied participating in the mob action, pointing at Geoffrey Semanda Mwesige, a councillor representing Kakooge Sub-county in Nakasongola District Council, as the mastermind of the crime.
D/Cpl Nakajja recorded statements from police officers who were at the scene and attempted to save the deceased from the mob.

D/ASP Osele said he saw Semanda jump out of a car and incite people to kill the suspect.
D/ASP Osele said Semanda told the mob: “Why are we wasting time with this man? Don’t you know that police is good at protecting thieves?”

He added that Semanda picked a stone and hit the deceased and other people joined in the lynching.
D/ASP Osele said he attempted to save the suspect from being lynched, but he was overpowered.
Detective Sergeant Godic Katarikawe too said he heard Semanda inciting the people and saw him hitting Kyendo with a stone.
ASP John Olupot, who was the officer in charge of Katuugo Police Post, also recorded a statement implicating the councillor.

However, the officers did not arrest Semanda. He came to the police station to secure the release of the suspects detained over the incident and even talked to the officers on how to resolve the case.
The police were still gathering evidence against Semanda. They knew that they were dealing with a person popular in the area and feared that arresting him without concrete evidence would to cause riots.

Cases of mobs lynching suspects had increased in the district and police investigations after the lynching of Kyendo implicated Semanda in previous mob actions.
After gathering enough evidence, police arrested Semanda and preferred murder charges against him.
In his statement, Semanda denied participating in the killing of Kyendo, let alone being at the crime scene when the incident happened.
Semanda said between 1pm and 4pm when Kyendo was lynched, he was still attending the burial of the murdered boda boda cyclist.

He said the burial place was more than 30 miles from the crime scene so it was practically impossible for him to be in two places at the same time.
His main defence was that the police officers in the area targeted him because he had put them to task over their failure to resolve murders, aggravated robbery and other crimes in the district.

He tasked D/Cpl Nakajja to produce eyewitnesses from the area who saw him hitting the deceased.
D/Cpl Nakajja also recorded a statement of Rashid Kabugo, a crime preventer, who was injured by the mob when he attempted to rescue Kyendo.

Kabugo said he saw Semanda at the scene of crime leading a group of armed men who beat and burnt Kyendo.
Police decided to focus on the area councillor and released the other people since there was no incriminating evidence against them.
Semanda was taken to the High Court where he was charged with murder of Kyendo.

The trial of Semanda at the High Court in Nakasongola District ended with a conviction.
“I, therefore, find that the prosecution has proved this charge of murder against the accused beyond reasonable doubt. There is no doubt in my mind that the accused participated in the murder of the victim, Ali Kyendo. The accused is thus found guilty and convicted of the offence of murder, contrary to Section 188 and 189 of the Penal Code Act,” Justice Joseph Murangira ruled on April 21, 2016.
Court ruling

“In passing the sentence the following considerations shall be taken into account:
All the mitigating factors that were advanced by both counsel for the parties.

The incidents of innocent people losing their dear lives in the name of mob ‘justice’ are on the increase in this jurisdiction and in Uganda in general.
The convict in finishing the victim with hitting him with a stone and burning the deceased to death clearly shows he took the law into his hands.

As justice in this country demands as per the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda, 1995 the courts cannot accept lawlessness to flourish in Uganda. The offender of the law must be punished.

At the scene of crime the convict from the evidence on record took charge of the scene despite the presence of many police officers.

The deceased lost his life at the hands of the convict and others still at large.
I note that the maximum sentence in this offence of murder is death.

The convict is a first offender.
I also consider the level and extent of the convict’s participation in the murder of the deceased.
This case is not a rare of the rarest cases to attract the maximum sentence.

The convict has all along been on bail.
Therefore, considering all the above stated factors, I do sentence the convict to 10 years imprisonment,”
Justice Joseph Mulangira