Supreme Court fails to hear businessman Kato Kajubi appeal

Hearing of an appeal filed by Masaka businessman Kato Kajubi has failed to kickoff at the Supreme Court in Kampala.

Kajubi was in 2012 convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment after being found guilty of hiring Umar Kateregga, a witchdoctor and his wife Mariam Nabukeera to slaughter 12 year old Joseph Kasirye for ritual purposes.

Prosecution adduced evidence to the effect that Kato Kajubi had taken Kasirye’s head and genitals to be used in “cleansing” his real estate businesses after the sacrifice prompting the then High Court judge Mike Chibita to sentence him to life imprisonment.

On Thursday, hearing of the appeal was supposed to kick off before a panel of five justices of the Supreme Court including  the Chief Justice Bart Katureebe, Stella Amoko Arach, Rubi Opio Aweri, Lillian Tibatemwa and Paul Mugamba.

However, some members of the panel were not present prompting the court to adjourn the matter to a later date.

“The next date of hearing the case will be communicated to us,” Anthony Wameli, one of Kajubi’s lawyers told journalists later.

The Court of Appeal in 2014 upheld the conviction and life imprisonment sentence basing on evidence of the couple whom court said knew something about Kasirye’s death because they are the ones who killed him and that Kajubi came to pick the head and private parts adding that it was a clear indication the businessman was involved or knew something about it.

However in his appeal at the Supreme Court, Kajubi says the couple of Kateregga and Nabukeera were accomplice witnesses but their evidence was never corroborated.

“The evidence had many contradictions and inconsistencies but these were ignored by the lower courts,” says Kajubi in his appeal at the Supreme Court.

The businessman also argues that his defence was never considered by the High Court before coming up with its decision to convict and sentence him to life imprisonment.