Former union boss wants conviction, jail term quashed

By Betty Amamukirori                      

Dalton Apollo Nyangasi, a former Uganda Medical Workers Union boss sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of his wife, has asked court to quash his conviction and sentence.

His lawyer Henry Kunya told court that it was erroneous for the trial judge to restrict the case to a homicide yet his wife, at the time of her death, was suffering from a life-threatening illness.

“Justice Jane Kiggundu while passing down the sentence was not mindful of the other factors that could have caused the death of the late Christine Dambio Nyangasi since she had pneumonia,” he said.

Kunya, while basing on the medical certificate of cause of death presented by a senior pathologist at Mulago hospital, Dr. Sylvester Ozivua, told court that the deceased died of bronchitis pneumonia and not strangulation as stated in the judgment.

“The pathologist in his histology and post mortem report confirmed that the deceased died due to neurogenic cardiac arrest not strangulation,” Kunya told court while presenting his submissions on the grounds of appeal against the life sentence.

In October 2012, Dalton Apollo Nyangasi was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment by the then-high court judge, Jane Kiggundu, for the murder of his wife.

The couple had two children together.

‘No evidence’

Nyangasi was arrested as a prime suspect and charged with murder of his wife in July 2010, at their home in Kireka B Zone, Wakiso district. He was then taken to Kiira Road Magistrates’ court where he was committed to high court to stand trial.

High court found him guilty and convicted and sentenced him to life behind bars.

The convict’s lawyer Kunya told court presided over by a panel of three judges consisting of Justice Faith Mwondha, Augustine Nshimye and Geoffrey Kiryabwire, that there was no medical report whatsoever showing that there were injuries on the deceased’s neck as adduced by prosecution.

He also argued that there was no evidence presented in court that linked the appellant to the death of his wife, saying that the judge dwelled only on speculations, ignoring key expert opinion from the medic to pass judgment.

“There was no evidence that the appellant strangled his wife and there is no report in court showing that at the time of her death, the deceased was healthy as adduced by the trial judge,” Kunya told court.

He further told court that prosecution evidence was riddled with a lot of inconsistencies which the judge failed to see while handing down a harsh and excessive sentence to the appellant.

Kunya asked court to quash the conviction and set aside the life sentence because prosecution failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the death was unlawful, there was malice aforethought and that the appellant participated in the crime.

However, the principal state attorney Alex Baganda said that the judge was lenient while passing down the sentence and asked court to uphold both the conviction and the sentence because all the requisite ingredients were proved beyond reasonable doubt.

Meanwhile, the panel of judges asked for some time for them to peruse through the submissions and make their judgment.