‘I killed my boss’
Aug 20, 2008
A MAN stunned the High Court on Tuesday when he admitted to hacking his boss to death in Kampala in August 2005 and asked the judge to sentence him immediately.
By Edward Anyoli
A MAN stunned the High Court on Tuesday when he admitted to hacking his boss to death in Kampala in August 2005 and asked the judge to sentence him immediately.
The 32-year-old Sirasi Ssebuliba said he killed Deo Wangi, a businessman based on Ben Kiwanuka Street, for whom he worked as a casual labourer.
Ssebuliba made the confession when he appeared before Justice Benjamin Kabiito to take plea at the opening of the criminal session, which started in Kampala on Monday.
After the charge was read to him, the court clerk asked Ssebuliba if the facts were correct. “Yes,†he answered without blinking.
A startled Justice Kabiito ordered the clerk to read the charges again. But the unruffled Ssebuliba again retorted: “I committed the offence.†The audience was shocked.
In spite of the confession, the judge took 10 minutes to explain to Ssebuliba that he must go through the murder trial and rejected his “short-cut†demand for a sentence.
Justice Kabiito said the trial would establish why the suspect may have committed the crime.
“The prosecution will have to call all the witnesses to testify before this matter is decided,†Kabiito said.
“I will enter a plea of not guilty and this case is fixed for hearing on November 10.â€
Although the penalty for murder is death, Ssebuliba looked indifferent.
Dressed in jean trousers and a grey T-shirt, Ssebuliba held his hands across his chest and looked the judge straight in the eye as deathly silence invaded the courtroom.
Ssebuliba, a resident of Kawempe, a Kampala suburb, had been accused by his employer of theft, the prosecutor said. Ssebuliba who had threatened to deal with his boss, hacked him to death on Ben Kiwanuka Street as he entered his car to leave for home after work.
In the same court, a 28-year-old youth who had pleaded guilty to intentionally hacked his mother to death made a turn-around and denied committing the offence.
Peter Kagiri, 28, allegedly murdered his mother Kasalina Nassaka and father Raphael Kiwanuka.
Kagiri’s lawyer said after explaining issues to his client, he had decided to change his plea. Therefore, when the charges were re-read, Kagiri denied them.
The judge remanded him until the next hearing on September 11.
Kagiri, then 24 years, in Kikandwa – Mera in Luweero district, attacked his parents with a panga and a hoe on August 21, 2004, after accusing them of bewitching him, the court said.
A MAN stunned the High Court on Tuesday when he admitted to hacking his boss to death in Kampala in August 2005 and asked the judge to sentence him immediately.
The 32-year-old Sirasi Ssebuliba said he killed Deo Wangi, a businessman based on Ben Kiwanuka Street, for whom he worked as a casual labourer.
Ssebuliba made the confession when he appeared before Justice Benjamin Kabiito to take plea at the opening of the criminal session, which started in Kampala on Monday.
After the charge was read to him, the court clerk asked Ssebuliba if the facts were correct. “Yes,†he answered without blinking.
A startled Justice Kabiito ordered the clerk to read the charges again. But the unruffled Ssebuliba again retorted: “I committed the offence.†The audience was shocked.
In spite of the confession, the judge took 10 minutes to explain to Ssebuliba that he must go through the murder trial and rejected his “short-cut†demand for a sentence.
Justice Kabiito said the trial would establish why the suspect may have committed the crime.
“The prosecution will have to call all the witnesses to testify before this matter is decided,†Kabiito said.
“I will enter a plea of not guilty and this case is fixed for hearing on November 10.â€
Although the penalty for murder is death, Ssebuliba looked indifferent.
Dressed in jean trousers and a grey T-shirt, Ssebuliba held his hands across his chest and looked the judge straight in the eye as deathly silence invaded the courtroom.
Ssebuliba, a resident of Kawempe, a Kampala suburb, had been accused by his employer of theft, the prosecutor said. Ssebuliba who had threatened to deal with his boss, hacked him to death on Ben Kiwanuka Street as he entered his car to leave for home after work.
In the same court, a 28-year-old youth who had pleaded guilty to intentionally hacked his mother to death made a turn-around and denied committing the offence.
Peter Kagiri, 28, allegedly murdered his mother Kasalina Nassaka and father Raphael Kiwanuka.
Kagiri’s lawyer said after explaining issues to his client, he had decided to change his plea. Therefore, when the charges were re-read, Kagiri denied them.
The judge remanded him until the next hearing on September 11.
Kagiri, then 24 years, in Kikandwa – Mera in Luweero district, attacked his parents with a panga and a hoe on August 21, 2004, after accusing them of bewitching him, the court said.