Nagirinya murder convict jailed 40 years, testifies against co-accused

One of the eight people accused of killing social worker Maria Nagirinya in 2019 has been sentenced to 40 years in prison after the High Court convicted him of murder.

Justice Isaac Muwata’s Wednesday judgment came after Isaac Ssenabulya, alias Kisunsu, pleaded guilty to the murder of Nagirinya, a former Community Integrated Development Initiative, employee and her driver, Ronald Kitayimbwa.  
Having survived the noose which is the maximum penalty for his offence, Ssenabulya, 20, will now serve 37 years in jail after the judge said he had deducted the three years he (Ssenabulya) has been on remand.

“This court treats you as a first offender without any known previous offence record. You pleaded guilty and therefore, did not waste the court's time and resources. You have also been remorseful for your actions,” Justice Muwata said.
“The convict committed a gruesome double murder that sent shock-waves throughout the nation therefore, expressing no regard to human life. The convict is an able-bodied and energetic man who can fend for himself instead of resorting to crime for survival. You are sentenced to 40 years for each of the six offences concurrently,” the judge added.
After surviving the death penalty which the state prosecutor had asked the judge to hand him, Ssenabulya, a self -confessed member of a notorious criminal gang, B13 that operated mainly in areas of Nateete, a Kampala suburb, was turned into a state witness to testify against his gang members and co-accused.

A soft spoken Ssenabulya identified to court his gang leader as Copriyam Kasolo, alias Arsenal and another member John Bosco Lubeg, alias Manomano, who are among the suspects still on remand.
Ssenabulya told court how he met Kasolo at Nateete before he was immediately initiated into the B13 gang which used to make quick money through snatching ladies bags around the Nateete traffic light jam.
“On August 28, 2019, Kasolo called me and informed me about a mission we had to execute. I sat on a boda-boda which took us to the late Nagirinya's gate where we found her and her driver before we kidnapped them,” Ssenabulya told court.
“Kasolo drove her car to where we murdered the two from. We drove back to Nateete and dumped the car on the road before proceeding to steal a license plate from another car at Nalumunye,” he added.
Their motive of the said kidnap and murder was to rob money and later steal the car which would help them execute their day-to-day activities.
Meanwhile Frank Nyakairu, a senior investigator attached to the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI) told Court that he used digital technology to trace the suspects following the murder.

He also testified that he traced Lubega alias Manomano from Nabbingo in Wakiso District through his girlfriend and that he found him with a simcard belonging to Nagirinya.
According to Nyakairu, Lubega confessed to have taken part in the kidnap and double murder.
Prosecution led by Jonathan Muwaganya and Timothy Emeri told court that on August 28, 2019 the accused and others still at large, at Nabisasiro zone in Rubaga and Mukono district kidnapped Nagirinya and Kitayimbwa and murdered them. The accused also allegedly used violence to rob Nagirinya of her motor vehicle registration number UBA 570V, mobile phone and Shs260, 000 cash.
The suspects still on remand face six counts of murder, kidnap and aggravated robbery.
The suspects are: Kasolo (27), a shoe hawker in Nateete; Johnson Lubega alias Rasta (20), unemployed; Nassif Kalyango alias Muwonge (22) and Hassan Kiseeka alias Masadda both boda-boda riders in Kitaka Zone in Nateete, Rubaga Division.
[email protected]