Kakama killers handed 50 years

JULIET KIGONGO

IN SUMMARY: Justice Mwondha rules, “These are young people but very deadly because even the first convict was a bit remorseful than them who kept smiling during the trial.”

Kampala

The court room was packed, while tears of emotion filled the eyes of those who came to witness the closure of a case that left the country grief-stricken two years ago-the kidnap and later gruesome murder of 18-month-old baby Kham Kakama.

His parents, Sven Karekaho and Naome Karekaho, accompanied by relatives, arrived at court on time for the midmorning verdict and took their seats at the front row of the courtroom. As Justice Faith Mwondha read the sentence at the Nakawa High Court, the late baby Kakama’s parents could not hold back their tears.

Just like he did during his trial, Brian Sajjabi, one of the two accomplices in the murder, kept smiling throughout the verdict.

Justice Mwondha handed the two accomplices, Mellon Nabaasa and Sajjabi 50-year-jail sentences after they were found guilty of killing and kidnapping the boy. “They are the first offenders who decided to get ransom money and even after getting it, they decided to take away the life of an innocent child.” “I sentence them to 50 years on the first count (kidnap) and 50 years for the second count (murder), a punishment which they are going to serve concurrently, “Justice Mwondha said.

Sajjabi, a technician, and Mellon Nabaasa, the former nanny of Kakama, had been on remand at Luzira Prison for two years.

Justice Mwondha said according to evidence induced in court, prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt that the convicts were principal actors in this matter and were not interested in the ransom money. “The child was kidnapped on June 8 and after, they went ahead to murder him, so their intention was to kill but not get a ransom,” she said. “These are young people but very deadly because even the first convict was a bit remorseful than them who kept smiling during the trial.”

At the time of his kidnap, Kakama is reported to have been left in the custody of Nabaasa, while his parents had gone to work. A few hours later, the mother received a phone call from one of the maids alerting her of the missing baby.

A search for Kakama was mounted until one morning the police found the baby’s body in Kamwokya, a Kampala suburb. Mr Karekaho, an employee of Uganda Revenue Authority, is reported to have paid Shs30 million ransom for the release of his son.

Gordon Tumusiime who was the first convict in the case was handed a 30-year-jail sentence for pleading guilty at the beginning of the trial to charges of killing and kidnapping the toddler.

Source: Daily Monitor (04/10/2012): http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Kakama+killers+handed+50+years/-/688334/1524216/-/8secfc/-/index.html