Court rejects businessman Francis Onebe’s bail application

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | High Court in Kampala has declined to release on bail senior accountant, Francis Onebe who is battling charges of murdering his wife and dumping her body in a septic tank at their matrimonial home in Muyenga.

In a ruling read for him by the High Court Registrar Didas Muhumuza, Justice Micheal Elubu said that there was no need to grant Onebe bail at this point, arguing that what ought to be done is to expedite the case. He says the trial would begin in April 2023.

Onebe, 63, is accused of murdering his wife, Mary Immaculate Aiso Onebe in 2021, and dumping her body in a septic tank at their matrimonial home in Muyonyo, Makindye Division, Kampala. According to the prosecution, Asio went missing on January 6, 2021. As a result, Onebe opened a case of suspected kidnap at Kabalagala police station.

Nine months later on September 7, 2021, investigators found Asio’s body decomposing in the family septic tank leading to Onebe’s arrest for murder. He applied for bail on grounds that he needed to seek treatment in Nairobi and London for chronic prostatitis and high blood pressure. In January 2022, Justice Paul Gadenya denied Onebe’s application questioning his integrity having earlier traveled to Kenya for treatment without the knowledge of the police.

The judge also noted that there is a tendency for suspects on capital offenses to flee while on bail for fear of the consequences of their actions once found guilty of the crime, for which they are accused. The prosecution alleged that following the death of Onebe’s wife, he was placed on a watch list and instructed not to move outside Kampala without the express permission of the investigators.

But the evidence before court indicated that Onebe defied the orders and was caught on September 6, 2021, secretly exiting Uganda to London via Nairobi on purported medical grounds. It was then that he was arrested. Justice Elubu has remanded Onebe further to Kitalya prison as he awaits trial of his case. Onebe was jointly charged with Bonny Oriekot, a private security guard from Pentagon Security Company.

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