News
Family members convicted of murdering five-year-old Soroti pupil
Justice Wamala found that Okedi, Ariokot and Obotol shared a common intention to commit the offence, with Okedi procuring the weapon used in the killing and later attempting to cover up the incident.
Suzan Vivian Ariokot confers with her lawyer, Joseph Odong, after being convicted of murder by the High Court in Soroti. (Photo by Godfrey Ojore)
By: Godfrey Ojore, Journalist @New Vision
_________________ Joseph Okedi and his younger brother, John Bosco Obotol, confer in the dock after being convicted of murder by the High Court in Soroti. (Photo by Godfrey Ojore)
The High Court in Soroti has convicted three family members over the murder of five-year-old Joan Faith Apio, who was killed at Jozan Nursery and Primary School in Soroti city last year.
The convicts are Suzan Vivian Ariokot, her husband Joseph Okedi, and John Bosco Obotol, Okedi’s younger brother.
Okedi was the director of Jozan Nursery and Primary School, while Ariokot was one of the school’s co-directors. Obotol, the youngest of Okedi’s brothers, was a police detective corporal attached to Madera Police Station in Soroti City East Division.
However, High Court Judge Boniface Wamala acquitted three other suspects after finding that the prosecution had failed to prove their participation in the murder.
Those acquitted are James Edoket, a former head teacher of the school’s nursery section; Osula Adongo, the former school matron; and Valentine Opio, the school cook.
In his judgment delivered on Thursday, August 20, 2026, Justice Wamala relied on evidence from a key minor witness, forensic experts and postmortem findings, which he said placed the three convicts at the scene of the crime.
The judge said the account of a 14-year-old witness, who testified that Ariokot sent her to bring Apio, was sufficient to establish Ariokot’s involvement in the murder.
According to the court findings, the murder occurred on February 5, 2025, between 5:00 pm and 6:00 pm and lasted about 15 minutes.
The court established that Ariokot assaulted and killed Joan before removing body parts, which she handed to Obotol, who was seen by the witness standing outside the school’s chain-link fence.
Justice Wamala observed that there was no way the 14-year-old witness could have failed to identify Obotol, who was standing about two metres away from her.
Those acquitted are James Edoket, a former head teacher of the school’s nursery section; Osula Adongo, the former school matron; and Valentine Opio, the school cook.
In his judgment delivered on Thursday, August 20, 2026, Justice Wamala relied on evidence from a key minor witness, forensic experts and postmortem findings, which he said placed the three convicts at the scene of the crime.
The judge said the account of a 14-year-old witness, who testified that Ariokot sent her to bring Apio, was sufficient to establish Ariokot’s involvement in the murder.
According to the court findings, the murder occurred on February 5, 2025, between 5:00 pm and 6:00 pm and lasted about 15 minutes.
The court established that Ariokot assaulted and killed Joan before removing body parts, which she handed to Obotol, who was seen by the witness standing outside the school’s chain-link fence.
Justice Wamala observed that there was no way the 14-year-old witness could have failed to identify Obotol, who was standing about two metres away from her.
Another key witness, Ariokot’s daughter, also corroborated the evidence of the first witness. She told the court that her mother had confessed to killing Apio and warned her never to tell anyone.
The daughter further testified that Ariokot gave her a key to the latrine where Joan had been locked and instructed her to drop it inside another latrine.
Although Okedi did not directly participate in the assault, the court found that he was part of a plan to kill Apio.
Justice Wamala invoked the principle of common intention, which provides that where two or more people form a common intention to pursue an unlawful purpose and an offence is committed in furtherance of that purpose, each person is deemed to have committed the offence.
The judge further found that Okedi procured and delivered the weapon used by Ariokot to kill the child.
“He thereafter attempted to downplay and cover up the incident. By the principle of common intention, Okedi, Ariokot and Obotol are all liable for the offence of murder,” Justice Wamala ruled.
The court has set 2:30 pm for sentencing of the three convicts.
The daughter further testified that Ariokot gave her a key to the latrine where Joan had been locked and instructed her to drop it inside another latrine.
Although Okedi did not directly participate in the assault, the court found that he was part of a plan to kill Apio.
Justice Wamala invoked the principle of common intention, which provides that where two or more people form a common intention to pursue an unlawful purpose and an offence is committed in furtherance of that purpose, each person is deemed to have committed the offence.
The judge further found that Okedi procured and delivered the weapon used by Ariokot to kill the child.
“He thereafter attempted to downplay and cover up the incident. By the principle of common intention, Okedi, Ariokot and Obotol are all liable for the offence of murder,” Justice Wamala ruled.
The court has set 2:30 pm for sentencing of the three convicts.