By Rédaction Africa Links 24 with
Published on 2024-01-18 07:25:37
The High court has set January 24 as the date for delivering its ruling on the case in which the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) is challenging the decision by the Nakawa Chief Magistrate’s court to allow plea-taking of the suspects implicated in the murder of businessman Henry Katanga. The suspects involved include Katanga’s two daughters; Martha Katanga Nkwanzi and Patricia Kankwanzi, along with their mother, Molly Katanga, who is reportedly admitted for injuries she allegedly sustained during the incident. Molly is facing charges of murder, which are capital in nature, while her daughters are facing charges of destroying evidence in their father’s death. Additionally, the three are further indicted alongside the family’s shamba boy, George Amanyire, and a medical practitioner, Charles Otai, who are charged with being an accessory after the commission of murder. According to the DPP’s application, which came up on Tuesday before Justice Isaac Muwata, four of the suspects who have so far been produced before the Nakawa court took a plea that the DPP contends was procedurally incorrect, illegal, improper, and irregular.
The DPP argues that the charges of Kankwanza, Otai, Nkwazi, and Amanyire are interconnected to the count of murder for which the prosecution will rely on the same facts, evidence, and witnesses. The documents show that the DPP has not yet sieved the charges, and it is in the interest of justice that all the counts in the charge sheet are tried in the same court.
Justice Muwata has asked the parties, including the lawyers representing the accused persons and the prosecution led by state attorney Jonathan Muwaganya, to file written submissions. The suspects are represented by lawyers McDusman Kabega, Ellison Karuhanga, and Bruce Musinguzi, who have stated that they are not opposing the DPP’s application. The lawyers have been asked to put in written submissions by January 19, and the prosecution was added additional time to amend its application to include arguments on the plea-taking of Nkwanzi, who was charged much later after the DPP had already filed her application; so that the issues are resolved at once.
Read the original article on The Observer
