The self-confessed murderer of former social worker Maria Nagirinya and her driver, Ronald Kitayimbwa, Isaac Ssenabulya, will serve the remainder of his life in prison.
A day after Ssenabulya entered a guilty plea to the pair’s kidnapping and murder in 2019 the sentence was handed down on Wednesday morning by Judge Isaac Muwata of the High Court Criminal Division.
On each count, he gave him a 40-year prison term, but he was told to serve them all at once. Given that the defendant has spent three years on detention following his arrest in 2019, he added that the sentence will be 37 years.
Judge Muwata noted that he had considered the fact that the defendant was a first-time offender who had apologized to the relatives of the deceased and didn’t waste the court’s time.
He observed that Ssenabulya is a young, active man who is capable of surviving without using illegal means. The murder, he continued, had a significant effect on the victims’ families.
One of the seven people chosen as suspects in connection with the kidnapping and murder of the couple on August 28, 2019, is Ssenabulya.
The other suspects were Hasan Kisekka, Ivan Mutagubya, Hamza Kateregga, Isaac Ssenabulya alias Kisunsu, John Kisekka alias Manumanu, John Lubega nicknamed Barros, Raymond Marcos Okori, and Isaac Ssenabulya alias Kisunsu.
But on Tuesday, state attorney Jonathan Muwaganya sent the judge a letter from the DPP saying that she was no longer interested in bringing charges against Okori. As a result, Justice Muwata ruled that Okori should be released right away.