Uganda: Defiler Jailed for 15 Years
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New Vision (Kampala)
24 July 2008
Posted to the web 25 July 2008
Frank Mugabi and Richard Adrama
Kampala
A man who was arrested in 2006 at the age of 17 has been sentenced to 15 years in jail after being found guilty of defilement.
Marcello Atandu, who is now 19, was handed the custodial verdict by the new West Nile High Court circuit resident judge, John Wilson Kwesiga, on Monday. The case was among the first to be heard during the opening of the new session.
Atandu, a resident of Pakayo parish, Yivu sub-county, Maracha/Terego district, was found to have defiled a 4-year-old girl on June 6, 2008 when the victim's mother had gone to the local market.
He was reportedly asked to prepare lunch for the family but instead hatched a plot to seduce the little girl to follow him into the bush to collect firewood.
According to prosecution, one of the neighbours, only identified as Teddy, got concerned when the accused delayed to return home with the girl and alerted the mother.
Later, the girl returned weeping and narrated her ordeal.
Atandu pleaded guilty to the defilement charges. The judge sentenced him to 15 years, saying it was a capital offence punishable by death.
The sentence, according to the judge, was also meant to instil good morals in Atandu so he could return and live as a morally up-right citizen.
Kwesiga, who replaces Justice Augustus Kania, will preside over 47 capital offences.
He pledged to keep time in administering justice and called on court magistrates and other stakeholders to do the same.
"Arua is one of the fastest developing districts in the country; therefore, all stakeholders need to strive to achieve quick administration of justice," Kwesiga stressed, adding that this would help decongest prisons by reducing the number of those on remand.
He noted that long detentions without trial were unconstitutional and further challenged all concerned to play their part in reducing the backlog of cases.
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Court advocates, however, complained of inadequate facilitation for the High Court sessions, which they said force advocates to abandon cases.
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