Court Set to Hear Appeal against \'Tonku\' Death Sentence

The Court of Appeal has set April 14, 2015 to hear an appeal in which death row convict Thomas Nkulungira alias Tonku is challenging the death sentence handed to him four years ago.

High Court Judge Albert Rugadya Atwooki in January 2011 found Nkulungira guilty of murdering his ex-girlfriend Brenda Karamuzi before dumping her body in a septic tank in Muyenga, Kampala.

Prosecution convinced court that Nkulungira together with his Shamba Boy Fred Ssempijja had a hand in the murder that took place between 18th and 30th January 2010 in Bukasa, Makindye division.

However, throughout his trial, Nkulungira maintained his innocence on the basis of his absence from scene of crime. He claimed that he was socializing with his friends in bars during the time of Karamuzi\'s death. His accomplice was sentenced to five years in jail after court found him guilty of being an accessory in the crime.

Nkulungira\'s appeal is among the 69 criminal appeals that the court is set to hear in a special criminal session scheduled to run from March 23 to April 28 this year.  Justices; Augustine Nshimye, Eldad Mwangutsya and Kenneth Kakuru will hear his appeal.

The other appellant in the session is Shanita Namuyimbwa also known as Bad Black. She is challenging the four-year sentence handed to her after being found guilty of embezzling about Shs11 billion from her British lover David Greenhalgh. Her appeal is set to be heard on April 23.

Also on the list is Apollo Dalton Nyangasi, the former Chairman of the Uganda Medical Workers Union who is challenging the life imprisonment sentence handed to him for murdering his wife Christine Dambio Nyangasi.