Pine car bond murder: Museveni pardons businessman Ssebuwufu

KAMPALA - President Yoweri Museveni has pardoned city businessman Muhammad Ssebuwufu.

Ssebuwufu is the owner of Pine Car Bond, who was convicted in 2019 for the kidnap and murder of Betty Donah Katusabe in 2015.

Uganda Prison Services spokesperson Frank Baine confirmed Ssebuwufu has been released from prison following the presidential pardon.

“The President has exercised his discretion on the advice of prerogative of mercy committee and pardoned Ssebuwufu only,” Baine said.

Baine confirmed Ssebuwufu had spent 11 years in prison before his release today, February 27, 2026.

Ssebuwufu was convicted of torture and murder after Katusabe was beaten to death over a Shs9 million debt. The ruling solidified the precedence of oral testimony over police statements.

Ssebuwufu was initially sentenced to 40 years in prison by the High Court but a panel of three Court of Appeal Justices reduced his sentence to 18 years after re-evaluating the evidence and finding that the lower court’s sentence was excessively harsh.

In September 2023, the Supreme Court of Uganda upheld an 18-year jail term for Muhammed Ssebuwufu, for the 2015 murder Katusabe.

Background to the case

High Court Judge Lady Justice Flavia Anglin Ssenoga in 2019 convicted Ssebuwufu, along with Godfrey Kayiza (alias Godi), Phillip Mirembe, Paul Tasingika, Yoweri Kitayimbwa, Damasseni Ssentongo, Shaban Odutu (alias Golola), and Stephen Lwanga, who received a 7-year sentence for being an accessory after the offense.

This was after they were indicted on 3 counts; murder where the prosecution said all the accused persons and others still at large, on October 2015, at Pine Car Bond, along Lumumba Avenue, in Kampala District, murdered Katushabe.

Aggravated robbery c/s 285 and 286 (2) of the Penal Code Act, where the prosecution stated that all the accused persons and others still at large, on the same date and at the same place, robbed Katushabe of her mobile phone and or immediately after the said robbery, used deadly weapons, to wit, panga and sticks, on the said Katushabe.

Kidnap with intent to murder c/s 243 and 242 of the Penal Code Act, where the state alleged that the accused persons and others still at large, kidnapped Katushabe in order to murder her.

The accused person denied the offences on all the 3 charges and gave various defences ranging from alibi, silence and general denials.

However, they were found guilty after the state produced evidence which pinned them and showed how they kidnapped the late Katusabe from her home in Bwebajja along Entebbe Road on October 21, 2015, and then transported her to Pine Car Bond premises along Lumumba Avenue in Kampala, where they subjected her to torture using sharp objects.

The state alleged Katusabe was kidnapped after she allegedly failed to pay a balance of Sh9m for a vehicle she had purchased from Ssebuwufu’s bond. The vehicle was reportedly valued at sh17m.

The state alleged the convicts also stole Katusabe’s sim cards and a mobile phone worth sh300,000.

As a result, Justice Ssenoga sentenced them to serve concurrent punishments ranging from 20 to 40 years for three offences: kidnap with intent to murder, murder, and aggravated robbery.

Ssenoga also ordered them to compensate Katusabe’s family with 100 million Shillings for their loss.

However, the convicts, except Lwanga, appealed against the sentence. In 2021, Court of Appeal Justices Fredrick Egonda-Ntende, Catherine Bamugemereire, and Christopher Izama then found the sentences to be harsh and excessive.

They reduced the years of punishment for each convict, with Ssebuwufu receiving an 18-year term. The convicts who were dissatisfied appealed to the Supreme court.

In their ruling, the Supreme Court noted that, “We do not find any reason to interfere with the above sentences passed by the Court of Appeal. Though the Court of Appeal in considering mitigating factors and aggravated factors it somehow made it in an omnibus way.

For A1 he was the owner of the yard, and he was present; he was an older person, and the Court found him to be a first offender. But we find that omission to specify could not cause this Court to interfere with the finding, as the Court has exercised its duty as it was required under the law. We find that there was no miscarriage of justice.”

Discretion of pardon

In Uganda, the discretion of pardon is a constitutional power vested in the President, known as the Prerogative of Mercy, as outlined in Article 121 of the 1995 Constitution.
Article 121(1)(a) of the Constitution empowers the President to grant a pardon (free or conditional), a respite (temporary suspension of sentence), or substitute a less severe punishment.

The President exercises this power based on the advice of the Advisory Committee on the prerogative of mercy.

This committee is chaired by the Attorney General and includes six other prominent citizens appointed by the President, who cannot be members of Parliament, the Uganda Law Society, or a district council.

While the committee advises, the final decision rests with the President. It is not mandatory for the President to accept all recommendations, and he is not obligated to provide reasons for refusing to pardon someone.