Murder cases top criminal appeals list

Murder cases have dominated the list as the Court of Appeal is set to hear 40 criminal appeals in the next two weeks.
Court of Appeal  judges Kenneth Kakuru, Muzamiru Kibeedi and Irene Mulyagonja will hear the cases.
The cause-list issued by the Court of Appeal Registrar, Ms Susan Kanyange, shows that 14 of the cases involve murder convicts who are seeking to overturn their convictions and punishments.

The appeals include one in which George William Senfuka is seeking to quash a death sentence handed to him by the High Court while 10 others are seeking the Court’s intervention to overturn a life sentence.
According to the cause-list, eight of the appeals arise from the Kololo based Anti-corruption Court, where two of them were lodged by the state seeking to overturn the acquittal of Dr Richard Ndyomugenyi, Dr Myers Lugemwa, and Mr Martin Shibeki on corruption related charges. 

The state is also seeking to overturn the acquittal of Onesmas Kamacooko and Joseph Zziwa on the offences of causing financial loss and conspiracy to defraud.
In a statement issued yesterday, Ms Kanyange, said the court has written to all participating advocates informing them to attach relevant authorities to be relied on during the hearings. 

“During the hearings, the advocates will only highlight particular areas of interest in their submissions,” said Ms Kanyange adding that lawyers representing parties in the session have been directed to file written submissions.
To ensure that Covid-19 standard operating procedures are followed, Ms Kanyange said the prisoners will follow their appeals via Zoom technology while the justices and lawyers will be physically present in court.