Kitatta says army court wrongfully convicted him, wants 8 year sentence overturned
Former Boda boda 2010 patron Abdalla Kitatta has appealed against the eight-year sentence given to him by the General Court Martial.
Kitatta was four months ago found guilty of unlawful possession of an SMG rifle and a pistol without a valid firearm licence and unlawful possession of 30 and 20 rounds of ammunition for SMG rifles and pistol.
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In his appeal lodged before the army’s appeals court at Makindye, Kitatta says the lower court erred in law when it convicted him and his bodyguard by relying on the weakness of the defence team rather than the strength of the prosecution evidence.
“That court erred both in law and fact when it convicted the appellants basing on grossly uncorroborated and falsified prosecution testimonies given by unreliable witnesses who were influenced by a conflict of interest thereby occasioning grave injustice against the appellants,”Kitatta says in his appeal.
https://nilepost.co.ug/2019/05/17/abdallah-kitattas-most-notable-quotes/
The former Boda Boda 2010 patron also says there were many inconsistencies in the evidence relied on by the prosecution side to pin him and bodyguard.
According to two appellants, it was wrong for the army to shift the burden of proof onto them instead of the prosecution side which they say is an illegality.
“The court erred in law and fact when it refused, ignored and failed to discharge its duty to summon material witnesses who were deemed necessary to substantiate the evidence tendered against the appellants thereby arriving at a wrong conviction.”
Kitatta and his bodyguard Ngobi Sowali say the 8 years and 8 months punishment to each of them was harsh and unfair and ask the army’s appellant court to overturn it.
On Thursday, the General Court Martial appeals court headed by Justice Elly Turyamubona could not hear the appeal because Kitatta’s lawyers were not ready to proceed.
The court said the appeal would be heard on notice.
Kitatta was arrested in January 2018 when the army started an onslaught on allies of former Inspector General of Police, Gen.Kale Kayihura.
https://nilepost.co.ug/2019/05/15/how-kitatta-the-man-who-had-immense-godly-powers-became-powerless-in-a-second/
