SFC soldier jailed for life for aggravated robbery

CRIME AND PUNISHMENT | A military court has convicted a Special Forces Command (SFC) soldier of murder and handed him a life sentence.

Private Julius Ecee, No RA/239288, SFC's Third Forward Airborne Regiment, will also serve 40 years in jail for aggravated robbery.

The sentences will be served concurrently.

Ecee was found guilty of fatally shooting Isaac Okola Kizito,19, and injuring two others on December 26, 2023.

The 01 Special Forces Group Division Court Martial sitting in Loro Town Council in Oyam District also convicted Ecee of robbing a hardware shop belonging to Robert Obote of Shs65,000 during the crime that happened after he had absconded from his guard duties in Waza.

The court chaired by Lt Col Moses Nabasa also found Ecee guilty of the murder of Okola, a civilian from Olangit 'A' Village in Ogwete Sub-county, who succumbed to bullet wounds sustained from a shooting spree.

Innocent Obwol, 25, a boda boda rider, and Emmanuel Okello, a UPDF soldier attached to Air Force Base at Nakasongola who was just passing by, were also injured in the post-robbery shooting.

Ecee had denied the charges but prosecution led by Lt David Basiima lined up 18 witnesses, nine of them pinning the suspect to the crime.

Ecce's final nail was presented by Emmanuel Kibuuka, a ballistics expert from Government Analystic Laboratory in Wandegeya, Kampala, who told the court sitting in Loro Sub-County in Oyam that the cartridge alignments were consistent with those of the rifle used in the shooting.