Two minors who admitted participating in the murder of seven-year-old Joan Faith Apio have been pardoned by the High Court in Soroti and turned into key prosecution witnesses against six adults accused of orchestrating the killing at Jozan Nursery and Primary School.
The minors, identified only as A6 and A7 to protect their identities, pleaded guilty before Resident Judge Justice Boniface Wamala and were subsequently discharged after the court considered the time they had already spent in custody and their age. The pair are now expected to provide crucial testimony against the remaining accused persons.
The six adult suspects are school directors Joseph Okedi and Suzan Vivian Ariokot Okedi, headteacher James Edoket, police officer John Bosco Obotol, school cooks Valentine Opio and school matron Osula Adong. They all denied the murder charges when they appeared before the High Court. Justice Wamala observed that although the juveniles had participated in the crime, they appeared to have been manipulated by adults.
“I believe that the juveniles were aided to participate by those who were to be their parents without the willingness of the juveniles. Since the juveniles have agreed they committed the offense out of innocence, they have been discharged by this court for accepting to be guilty and have been pardoned, having already been in custody for a longer period,” Justice Wamala ruled.
He also noted the devastating impact the murder had on the victim’s family. “They knew about the murder and concealed the information, and yet a lot of resources have been injected into this case. The family of the victim has remained traumatized to date. This has traumatized the twin sister, who has remained unwell,” the judge said.
The court then heard testimony from A6, who alleged that on the day of the murder, school director Suzan Vivian Ariokot instructed her to bring one of the twin sisters to the school toilets after claiming they were going to meet their father. A6 testified that after leading Joan Faith Apio to the toilet, she became suspicious and hid nearby, where she allegedly witnessed Ariokot take the child into the toilet before hearing her scream.
“I found Apio lying on her stomach with her neck cut. Ariokot told me to go to the school canteen to bring a knife from Osula. When I returned with the knife, she further cut Apio’s neck to make it wider. Ariokot then pushed her hand into Apio’s throat, removed something and put it in a black polythene bag before handing it to Obotol, who was standing outside,” A6 testified.
The juvenile further told the court that she kept silent because she feared for her life. “She told me if I told anyone, she would do to me what she did to Apio. That is the reason I refused to reveal anything to anyone because I feared for my life,” A6 said. The second juvenile witness, A7, who is the daughter of the school directors, also testified after Justice Wamala first satisfied himself that she understood the duty to tell the truth.
Before her testimony, her mother, Suzan Vivian Ariokot, objected to her giving evidence. “That’s my daughter, and I know her. She doesn’t tell the truth; here she has even lied about her date of birth, so she shouldn’t be presented to this court to give witness against me,” Ariokot told the court. During her testimony, A7 admitted she had initially lied to investigators after allegedly being instructed by her mother.
“I knew lying to people is punishable by God, and when mummy told me to lie, I did not like it. The first time I wrote the statement, I lied, but when I was called again by the police officers to East Kyoga Regional Police to write another statement, I told them the truth that mum told me she had killed Apio and instructed me not to reveal to anyone,” A7 testified.
She further alleged that her mother later confessed the killing to her and ordered her to dispose of the toilet key. “My mother returned to school later in the evening around 6 p.m. together with my uncle Obotol. She gave me the keys to throw and told me she had killed Apio but warned me not to reveal to anyone what had happened. I went to throw the key into the latrine as instructed by her, and they went back,” A7 told the court.
The hearing continued until about 8 p.m. before Justice Wamala adjourned proceedings to Wednesday, July 29, 2026, when the prosecution is expected to present three more witnesses. The six adult suspects were remanded, while the two juveniles were transferred to Mbale Remand Home-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
