The Supreme Court of Uganda has brought the decade-long Kasiwukira murder saga to a definitive close, upholding the convictions and 20-year prison sentences imposed on former police constable PC Jaden Ashraf and Sandra Nakungu for the murder of businessman Eriya Sebunya Kasiwukira.
The decision, delivered on Thursday, September 17, 2026, rejected the appellants’ challenge in its entirety, marking another major victory for the prosecution after the High Court and Court of Appeal had already found the two guilty.
Kasiwukira was killed on October 17, 2014, in Muyenga, Kampala, in what prosecutors described as a deliberate vehicle attack made to look like a road accident. The case subsequently became one of Kampala’s most closely followed murder trials.
The Supreme Court found that the evidence against Ashraf and Nakungu established their participation in the killing beyond reasonable doubt, with the prosecution relying heavily on a chain of circumstantial evidence concerning the planning of the crime, the movements of the suspects and the vehicle allegedly used in the attack.
APPEAL COLLAPSES
The appellants had argued that their convictions were unsafe because the prosecution case was substantially circumstantial.
They also placed significant weight on the acquittal of Sarah Nabikolo Ssebunya, Kasiwukira’s widow and a co-accused at the original trial.
Their argument was essentially that if the person they alleged was linked to the planning of the murder had been acquitted, the convictions of the remaining accused should also fall.
The Supreme Court rejected that position.
The Court held that criminal responsibility is personal and that the acquittal of one accused does not automatically benefit other accused persons where there is separate and sufficient evidence proving their participation.
That principle was already evident in the 2016 High Court proceedings, where Justice Wilson Masalu Musene convicted Ashraf and Nakungu but acquitted Nabikolo after finding that the prosecution had not established her participation beyond reasonable doubt.
CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE HOLDS
At the heart of the Supreme Court decision was the prosecution’s chain of circumstantial evidence.
The Court found the evidence concerning prior planning, the presence of the appellants around the events surrounding the killing and the use of the motor vehicle sufficiently cogent and consistent to sustain the convictions.
The original High Court record shows that prosecution called 23 witnesses and relied on video evidence during the trial.
The trial court had previously found evidence linking Nakungu’s Mitsubishi Pajero to the killing, while testimony was also presented concerning alleged discussions about arranging Kasiwukira’s murder.
The Court of Appeal subsequently upheld the convictions and sentences, leaving the Supreme Court as the final avenue of appeal. Contemporary reporting shows that the Court of Appeal maintained the convictions in 2020.
TEN YEARS, THREE COURT LEVELS
The Supreme Court decision closes a legal battle that has stretched across more than a decade.
Kasiwukira was killed in October 2014.
In 2016, the High Court convicted Ashraf and Nakungu and sentenced each to 20 years’ imprisonment, while acquitting Nabikolo.
The convictions were subsequently challenged before the Court of Appeal, which upheld them.
The matter eventually reached the Supreme Court, where proceedings continued through pre-hearing stages. In 2024, the Supreme Court dealt with logistical issues surrounding Ashraf’s participation in the proceedings while he was imprisoned at Kasese.
In April 2025, the Supreme Court again set a date for hearing the appeal after an earlier session could not proceed because of Ashraf’s prison transfer arrangements.
Now, the country’s highest court has dismissed the final challenge.
ODPP: CONVICTION STANDS
The appeal was argued on behalf of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions by Senior Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Sam Oola.
The Supreme Court bench comprised Justice Prof. Lillian Tibatemwa Ekirukubinza, Justice Night Percy Tuhaise, Justice Mike Chibita, Justice Stephen Musota and Justice Monica Mugenyi.
The ruling reinforces a fundamental criminal-law principle: each accused person must be judged on the evidence against them.
It also confirms that circumstantial evidence can sustain a murder conviction where the circumstances form a complete and reliable chain pointing to the accused’s participation beyond reasonable doubt.
For Ashraf and Nakungu, the Supreme Court ruling means the convictions and the 20-year imprisonment terms imposed by the trial court and affirmed on appeal remain in force.
For a case that began with the killing of a prominent businessman in Muyenga in 2014 and travelled through Uganda’s three principal levels of criminal adjudication, Thursday’s ruling marks the end of the road.
The Kasiwukira murder appeal is now closed.
