Meddie Ssentogo violence case dismissed

By Michael Odeng

KAMPALA - Court has dismissed jailed city businessman, Meddie Ssentongo’s case of threatening violence using a pistol for failure of prosecution to provide concrete evidence against him.

Buganda Road court chief magistrate, Eleanor Khainza dismissed the case on Wednesday after Ssentongo was found not guilty of the offence.

“Since the DPP has failed to gather evidence to show that the accused really threatened, I therefore set him free of the offence brought before him,” came the magistrate’s ruling.

Ssentongo, who was clad in a dark suit in court to face judgment on offences he denied, is currently serving an 18-month sentence by the Anti-Corruption Court.

His lawyers had recently written a letter to the Director of Public Persecutions (DPP) complaining that the offences brought before their client were forged.

“This charge was just concocted in order to frustrate the accused [Ssentongo],” they had argued.

Prosecution had alleged that on October 19, 2011, Ssentongo, with intent to intimidate or annoy, threatened to injure court bailiff Christopher Kwizera with a firearm at Garden City shopping mall in Kampala.

Court also heard that the 28-year- old businessman – currently serving his jail term in Luzira Prison – was carrying a pistol loaded with 12 rounds of ammunition.

Kwizera had reportedly gone to arrest Ssentongo for conspiring with city socialite Shanita Namuyimbwa, fondly known as ‘Bad Black’, to embezzle sh11b from Daveshan, a company she jointly owned with her reported British lover, David Greenhalgh.