Court hears Uwera Nsenga's appeal against murder conviction

Five years after her conviction, Jacqueline Uwera Nsenga, the widow of the late Juvenal Nsenga still pleads her innocence.

A panel of three justices of the Court of Appeal led by the Deputy Chief Justice, Alfonse Owiny-Dollo, are expected to hear Nsenga's appeal on Thursday. Others justices are Elizabeth Musoke, Cheborion Barishaki.

Uwera was in September 2014 convicted and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for intentionally killing Nsenga, a wealthy businessman by Judge Duncan Gaswaga.

At the time of his death, Nsenga had one of the biggest transport contracts with the World Food Programme and owned a fleet of trucks.

The circumstances under which he lost his life sent shockwaves through Kampala's business community.

While convicting her, Justice Gaswaga ruled that Uwera deliberately killed her husband by running him over with a vehicle as he opened the gate of their home for her in Bugolobi, Kampala in January 2013.

The judge stated that Uwera intended to kill as evidenced by the way she drove at breakneck speed into the compound.

The judge noted that Uwera was driving at 45km per hour, adding that the car dragged Nsenga for a distance of 10.7 meters.

The judge rejected Uwera's defence that she accidentally knocked her husband and also dismissed her claim that she had a good relationship with her husband at the time of his death.

Uwera has hired lawyer David Mpanga to lead her legal team.