Two assessors at the Masaka High Court have recommended the acquittal of two students accused of setting fire to a boys’ dormitory at St. Bernard’s Mmanya Secondary School in Kyotera District, a blaze that claimed the lives of ten students in 2018.
The assessors, Mariam Tusiime and Peter Bakabulindi, made the recommendation in a joint opinion delivered before Justice Victoria Nakintu Katamba, defence lawyer Sam Ssekyewa and the prosecution team.
They faulted police for failing to conduct thorough investigations into the November 2018 fire, saying the evidence presented in court was insufficient to establish that the accused, Edison Nio and Alex Mugarula, participated in the burning of the dormitory. The assessors observed that the prosecution had failed to place either student at the scene of the crime.
They also questioned the reliability of charge and caution statements allegedly made by the accused, noting that the defence had raised concerns that the statements were obtained through coercion and that their contents were inconsistent with testimony from prosecution witnesses.
The assessors further pointed to gaps in the handling of key exhibits. Although police records indicated that investigators recovered a pair of shoes allegedly abandoned at the scene by one of the suspects and a plastic bottle believed to have been used to carry petrol, the forensic examination reports for the exhibits were never presented in court.
According to the assessors, the failure to corroborate the prosecution’s evidence with the statements and exhibits contained in the court record made it difficult to establish the criminal liability of the two accused.
They also cited the acquittal of other suspects who had previously been arrested in connection with the fire as further evidence of weaknesses in the investigation.
In 2024, the court acquitted Henry Talemwa after his lawyers raised concerns over violations of his rights as a juvenile, including allegations that police falsified his age and detained him alongside adult inmates.
Another suspect, Dickson Kisuule, was acquitted in July this year after the court found that he was in police custody when the fire broke out, making it impossible for him to have physically participated in setting the dormitory ablaze.
The assessors said the developments raised questions about the competence of the police officers who investigated the incident. They consequently recommended that Nio and Mugarula be acquitted of the charges of murder, arson and attempted murder.
However, the assessors’ opinion is not binding on the trial judge. Under Uganda’s criminal justice system, assessors advise the judge on the evidence, but the judge retains the discretion to accept or reject their recommendations. Justice Katamba has set October 5 for delivery of the final judgment.
The boys’ dormitory at St. Bernard’s Mmanya Secondary School was burnt on November 11, 2018, after unknown people reportedly locked the students inside before setting the building on fire. Ten students died in the incident.
In his final submission, defence lawyer Sam Ssekyewa accused police of bungling the investigation and arresting the wrong suspects.
Ssekyewa argued that the fire was linked to internal conflicts involving the school administration and alleged that the students were framed in an attempt to conceal the identities of those responsible for the incident-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
