Court of Appeal to hear Kitatta's appeal on Friday

Kitatta in the dock

The Court of Appeal will on August 7 hear an appeal that was filed by the former patron of Boda -Boda 2010 Abdullah Kitatta.

Kitata and his bodyguard, detective constable Sowali Ngobi are challenging the 8-year-jail term that was handed to them for illegally possessing firearms and ammunition.

The duo was convicted in May last year by the General Court Martial and each was sentenced to 8 years and 8 months in prison.

However, the two contend that the sentence is harsh and excessive and that their conviction was unwarranted and based on what they termed as “trumped up” charges.

The pair also faults the General Court Martial chairman Lt. Gen Andrew Gutti for relying on insufficient prosecution evidence that lacked testimonies from independent and expert witnesses.

Kitatta further wants the Court of Appeal to overturn the lower court’s guilty verdict for lack of scientific proof like DNA which would erase any doubts on whether a golden pistol, an SMG riffle and military attire that detectives say were found in his office in Lubaga Division, belonged to him.

Both Kitatta and Ngobi are expected to appear physically before Justice Elly Turyamubona on Friday and court has written to Luzira Prison authorities notifying them about the lack of equipment to facilitate hearings via audio-visual links.