Rugby union wants public trial of suspects in Gongodyo’s killing

KAMPALA - The Uganda Rugby Union (URU) has called for a public trial of suspects in the recent killing of one of their members, Sydney Gongodyo.

Gongodyo, 27, died of multiple injuries after a mob attack in Ntinda, Kampala, on June 5.

This was after being mistaken for a thief during a robbery incident along Froebel Road.
The former Uganda Rugby Cranes and Black Pirates forward was buried four days later in Buweri town council, Sironko district.

The call for a mobile sitting of the High Court was made on Wednesday (June 10) by the Omoro County MP, Andrew Ojok , during a plenary session of Parliament.  

Ojok, who also serves as vice president of URU, a governing body for rugby union in the country, said, “We are trying to make mob justice as discouraging as possible [because] many Ugandans don’t know that mob justice is actually illegal. I am requesting that, in a way, you make it prohibitive; can we have a public trial as it happened with the case of Uganda versus Christopher Okello Onyum?"

Onyum, 39, was sentenced to death by hanging in April this year for the murder of four toddlers at Ggaba Early Childhood Development Program, a daycare centre in Makindye Division, Kampala.

His public trial, the first of its kind in Uganda, took place at Ggaba Community Church grounds near the scene where he killed the toddlers on April 2, 2026.  

“Through that (public trial) process, we get to do so many things; even those who are not lawyers get to understand what actually happens in a courtroom. I must declare that I have interest (in Gongodyo’s case) because I serve as a vice president of Uganda Rugby Union, and that (Gongodyo) was one of our members. I request 9for a public trial0 on behalf of Uganda Rugby Union,” Ojok said.

The plenary session was chaired by Speaker Jacob Marksons Oboth, who later described the killing of Gongodyo as “very painful”.

During Wednesday's plenary session, Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja said mob justice in Uganda “must stop” and promised that the Ministry of Internal Affairs would make a statement about the act (of mob justice).

“I direct the minister of internal affairs to come up with a report so that we can debate this matter (of mob justice) at length because it is big; all of us are not safe. Our relatives, voters, are not safe. On behalf of the Government, I want to commit that we shall try to make sure that we stamp out this act of mob justice using police and all security agencies, and the culprits should be brought to book. This must stop,” the premier said.

Police have so far arrested 10 suspects in connection with the death of Gongodyo.