Justice Kwesiga recuses himself from Entebbe expressway murder case

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Justice Wilson Kwesiga has excused himself from a case in which Police Constable Davis Taremwa is accused of killing two people along the Entebbe expressway in 2019.

Taremwa was in 2019 charged with two counts of murder over a shooting that claimed two lives of Joshua Ruhegyera Nteireho and Merinah Tumukunde, at Nambigirwa bridge along the Entebbe expressway. Taremwa was arrested after his gun was found at the scene of the crime.

On Thursday before Taremwa could take a plea in the case, Justice Kwesiga said that he could not hear the case due to a conflict of interest. He explained that the deceased Nteireho was a son to one of the clients he represented during private practice.

According to the Recusal of Judicial Officers Directions, Legal Notice No. 7 of 2019 provides for a judicial officer to abstain from participating in an official action such as legal proceedings due to his or her conflict of interest.

The judicial officer makes such a decision either on his or her own or as a result of an application by any of the parties because his or her impartiality will be questioned.

Taremwa’s case file was returned to the Registrar High Court and was remanded to Kigo prison.

Taremwa was arrested after his gun was found at the scene of the crime. He later told the police that Nteireho had picked him from Hidden Treasure Hotel in Entebbe and taken him to Millennium hotel in Zzana where they met one Robert Suubi for a transaction. According to Taremwa, the transaction involved the sale of a motor vehicle, a Toyota Harrier at 25 million Shillings.

But Taremwa says that Nteireho abandoned him at the hotel with Suubi and drove away with his gun. Shortly after, Nteireho was reported dead.

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