Court convicts Kirabo in absentia for girlfriend’s murder

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Justice Henry Kaweesa has convicted Matthew Kirabo in absentia for the murder of his girlfriend Desire Mirembe Jemima, a former Makerere University medical student. According to Justice Kaweesa, a careful study of all the evidence from all the parties shows that the case was a love story gone wrong.

He delivered the verdict on Monday at High Court in Mukono. Court heard that on the night between July 10 and 11, 2015, Kirabo murdered Mirembe in Lugazi, Kawolo, and dumped her body in a sugarcane plantation.

The prosecution produced 15 witnesses and relied on a video recording shot by detective Joel Aiko where Kirabo incriminated himself confessing to murdering Mirembe. In the video footage, Kirabo is seen leading a team of detectives to Nakumati Oasis mall where he picked up the deceased and later led them to the scene of the crime in Lugazi to demonstrate how he murdered Mirembe.

He is on several occasions seen trying to correct the detectives each time they tried to conclude what they thought had happened at the crime scene. The prosecution also produced a charge and caution statement that Kirabo made at Kampala central police station confessing to the crime.

The defense tried in vain to stop the court from accepting the statement on grounds that his client made it under duress after being tortured. The judge also concluded that Kirabo was fully aware of the consequences of his statement when he made it and was never coerced.

The defense also tried to downplay the case, saying that the evidence brought by the state does not in any way incriminate their client and brought witnesses to make an alibi for their client. The four witnesses confirmed seeing Kirabo at the church around midnight the night Mirembe was killed.

However, in his judgment, the judge noted that the defense witnesses only strengthened the prosecution case. The state argued that Kirabo committed the offense before he went to church. The Judge noted that Kirabo murdered Mirembe and went to her hostel where he sent fake messages to her relatives before and dumped her phone at the Kitezi garbage dumping site to cover up his tracks before going to church.

The State Attorney Happiness Ainebyona prayed to the court to sentence Kirabo in his absence citing the case of Ug Vs Kabafunzaki where he was sentenced in his absence. However, Justice Kaweesa said that there is a warrant of arrest for Kirabo, which has not been executed. He ordered that they find the accused person, arrest him and produce before to court him for sentencing.

Mirembe’s father, Emmanuel Musoke welcomed the judgment. “After 7 years we finally receive judgment. However, it is absurd that the convict is nowhere to be found,” Musoke said. He appealed to the public to help him find the convict and bring him to court for sentencing so they can get closure. Kirabo absconded from the court last year after being granted bail. Despite this, the court decided to proceed with the case in his absence leading to today’s decision.

*****

URN