Joyce Namugambe
Jinja High court under Justice Winfred Nabisinde sentenced a Local Defence Unit Officer identified as Geoffrey Kibumba, 45 years to 35 years in prison for 5 counts of aggravated robbery. Geoffrey is attached to Buwenge subcounty in Jinja district.
The prosecution which was led by Pamela Orogot revealed to court that on 21/03/2014, Geoffrey Kibumba with codefendants namely Gideon Sande, a resident of Nkokonjeru in Buikwe district and Geoffrey Ikuluba a resident of Mafubira ward in Jinja city staged a fake roadblock and robbed five passengers on gunpoint which was against section 285 and 286 of the penal code Act. It is reported that they assaulted the victims, undressed them and robbed them of different items such as cash, phones, and truck registration number UAS 309C, using AK 47 gun.
It was revealed that Geoffrey Ikuluba and Gideon Sande were arrested after being found selling batteries and tyres of the truck in Mukono Park after abandoning the truck in the sugarcane plantation in Nkonkonjeru. The two then led the police into Kibumba’s house where police retrieved an AK 47 gun and a military uniform.
Ms. Orogot asked the Court to sentence each convict to 35 years, saying their offence was committed using a gun, but Justice Winfred Nabisinde instead sentenced Geoffrey Kibumba to 35 years in prison for misusing the gun that was meant for him to protect citizens. She noted that since the military uniforms and the gun were found in Kibumba’s house, he played the biggest role in this robbery compared to Sande and Ikuluba, she therefore sentenced him to 35 years for each of the 5 counts but to be served concurrently and sentenced the co convicts to 25 years of each of the 5 counts to be served concurrently.
According to Justice Nabisinde, the convicts violated the victims’ rights of privacy and personal integrity since they were left naked while the weapon they used was also deadly. However much the defence lawyer Robert Assarait asked the Justice to reduce the sentence to 15 years, based on grounds that the victims were not injured, Justice declined and advised them to forward an appeal if they are not satisfied with the judgment.
