Kisoro teacher guilty of killing niece over property wrangle

A primary school teacher in Kisoro district has been found guilty of murdering his niece following a family dispute over property.

Domiano Kabahoze Semuswa, a teacher at Kyanika B School, was convicted on November 26, 2025, after the prosecution proved the charge of murder against him.

Justice Karoli Lwanga Ssemogerere of Kabale High Court ruled that Semuswa killed his sister’s daughter, Provia Niyonshuti, a Primary Four pupil, and later dumped her body behind his house at Kibaya Village on May 29, 2024.

“The convict caused the death of a juvenile female with malice aforethought,” Ssemogerere stated in his judgment.

The court rejected Semuswa’s unsworn alibi in which he claimed he had spent the night at the school on the day the crime was committed.

The convict stated in his defence that on May 29, 2024, he was at Kyanika B School, where he had started work for the day. He worked from 7:00am to 5:00pm and spent that night at the school.

He further told the court that on the morning of May 30, 2024, he took a student’s school fees to CDC Secondary School before returning to Kyanika B School, where he arrived at about 10:30am. At about 2:00pm, he received a phone call from his wife informing him that his niece was missing.

He said he requested permission from the headteacher to go and search for her and began the search at about 4:30pm.

The judge noted that the prosecution had presented a compelling case, demonstrating how investigators carefully connected crucial and delicate pieces of evidence despite working with limited resources.

He commended the teamwork of the scene-of-crime officers and highlighted the role of the canine handler, Cpl. Dennis Adii, who successfully linked the primary and secondary crime scenes.

During the trial, Adii, who is attached to Nsambya Police Barracks, testified that the Police dog traced a scent trail to the convict’s bed in one of the rooms, a detail that was later confirmed by the convict’s wife.

Judith Muhaweimana, the mother of the deceased, told the court that the convict (who is also her brother) had previously threatened her, accusing her and her children of taking his share of the family property.

She testified that their father had recently died and the family property had been distributed.