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By Hudson Apunyo, Saidi Engola & Joseph Ekol

KAMPALA - A soldier of the Artillery Regiment of the Special Forces Command (SFC) accused of murder and aggravated robbery, on Monday, April 15, 2024, appeared before the military court to answer to the charges against him.

The soldier, No RA/239288 PTE Julius Ecee, attached to the SFC at Kaweweta, Uganda Special Forces School in Nakaseke district pleaded not guilty to the two charges.

He is charged with murder contrary to sections 128 and 129 chapter 120 of the Penal Code Act and aggravated robbery contrary to Section 286 sub-section 2 of the Penal Code Act.

The trial is being heard by 01 Special Forces Group Division Court Martial at Loro town council in Oyam district where the incident took place.

The court is being chaired by Lt Col Moses Nabasa, prosecution is led by Lt David Basiima, defence counsel is Lt Hilary Rugyendo and the judge advocate is Capt. Hassan Mulyanti.

Prosecution told court that the accused on December 26, 2023, while dressed in military attire at Loro town council entered a hardware shop belonging to one Robert Obote and demanded money.

When the attendant identified as Morris Obong fled to the next room the suspect picked shillings 65,000, which was on the counter, and started firing ending up injuring three people.

Lt Basiima identified the victims as Isaac Okola Kizito,19, a resident of Olangit 'A' village in Ogwete sub-county, Otuke district; Innocent Obwol, 25, a bodaboda rider, a resident of Adyeda village in Loro town council and RA 278021 Pte Emmanuel Okello, a UPDF soldier attached to Air Force Base at Nakasongola who was just passing by.

The victims were rushed to Pope John XX111 Hospital Aber for treatment where Okola passed on two days later.

Prosecution had lined up 18 witnesses to pin the suspect to the crime but on the first day, court heard testimonies of only nine.

Testimony of witnesses

Obwol told court that on the fateful day in the evening, he saw the accused being carried on a motorcycle dressed in military uniform.

He said he knew the man well because in the past he used to come and have his bicycle repaired in Loro.

He could identify him well because he was holding the cap in his hands.

The witness testified that at about 7:30pm as they were seated at their stage, they heard gunshots in a nearby hardware shop.

“The gunshot was being fired around the junction of Kampala road, Oyam, and Lira Road but due to fear, we decided to run away for safety,” Obwol told court.

Ayo, a prosecution witness, told court that they recovered a magazine with 30 rounds of ammunition and an SFC uniform from his house in Dogapio. He said the desert boots recovered show signs of wetness indicating they were used the night.

He said the suspect told him his intention was to go and kill his grandmother with whom they had wrangles.

“When he passed out from training in artillery, he was a courageous, smart soldier. He was a well-behaved soldier with a clean record,” Ayo told court.  

Another witness, the DISO of Oyam Asraf said he knew the accused person from Police when he was arrested. He testified that he was informed on night of December 26 of a robbery in Loro town council and he informed the RDC.

The following day, he got a call from the GISO of Acaba Moses Anyutu informing him that they recovered gun No. 56 6101219 left by the suspect with 90 rounds of ammunition.

He informed Lt Ayo, an intelligence officer based in Lira and he collected the gun.
In cross-examination, the witness told court that the soldier became a suspect after he abandoned his gun and fled to Lira.

Sgt James Oyat, in charge of investigation SIB informed court that they received message from the Director of intelligence that an SFC soldier was involved in a robbery in Oyam.

He came to Oyam on fact fact-finding mission with fellow staff.

Oyat presented to court a video recording in which he claimed the suspect confessed to the crime.

Prosecution wanted to tender the video as an exhibit of confession but defence objected and the accused said the confession was obtained under duress. The chairperson ruled that the video be tendered as admission, not a confession.

Prosecution tendered in court the gun, 120 rounds of ammunition in four magazines, seven used cartridges, and one live bullet recovered from the scene.

Emmanuel Kibuuka, an expert in forensic and ballistics from Government Analystic Laboratory in Wandegeya, Kampala, told court that he received a sample from UPDF.

They were to find if the gun was capable of discharging ammunition, establish whether the exhibits presented were discharged by the same gun. The exhibits, and the cartridge cases were components of ammunition of calibre 7.62 by 39mm.

They were to be examined under a microscope to determine if they were of common origin.

Kibuuka said they found that all the cartridge alignments were similar to the test-fired ammunition. The officer concluded that the rifle presented could have fired the cartridges.

When asked if firing pins have different shapes and sizes, the expert said depending on the type of gun, they can have different shapes and sizes.

The case was adjourned to Tuesday for further hearing as the time clocked 1800 hours.