The High Court in Kampala has set September, 19 as the date on which assessors will give their opinion on the case of kidnap and subsequent murder of social worker Maria Nagirinya and her driver, Ronald Kitayimbwa in 2019.
On Thursday, the trial judge, Isaac Muwata guided the two assessors on what to follow before coming up with their expert opinion on the case.
"Base on evidence by both the prosecution and the accused to advise court on whether to convict or acquit the accused persons," Justice Muwata told the assessors.
The case
Six people including Coporiyamu Kasolo, alias Arsenal, Johnson Lubega aka Manomano, Sharif Mpanga, Nassif Kalyango alias Muwonge, Hassan Kisekka alias Masadda and Sadat Kateregga are accusing of the kidnap, murder and aggravated robbery of the duo.
According to the prosecution evidence, the kidnap, murder and robbery was a well-orchestrated plan by the group, each with a specific role they played.
The state says Kasolo was the group leader who mobilized all the others to commit the crime and after their mission was accomplished, he was the one who disbursed the cash as they shared proceeds of their criminal acts.
Evidence also shows that Kasolo, Kateregga and Kisekka carried out reconnaissance at Nagirinya's home in a bid to ascertain her movements but also the entrance and exit routes before they carried out the mission.
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Prosecution describes Hassan Kisekka as the coordinator, mobiliser and a key facilitator for the mission on the fateful day whereas Nasif Kalyango and Sharif Mpanga were described as not being mere boda boda riders but rather motorcycle riders hired for purposes of execution of the mission to kidnap and kill Nagirinya and her driver.
The state relied on postmortem reports, phone data analysis report, investigators' reports, CCTV camera footage, confession statements by some of the accused, DNA analysis, car jerk recovered from the deceased's vehicle, a panga recovered from Johnson Lubega's toilet among other pieces of evidence to implicate the six.
However, in their defence, the six deny the accusations saying no evidence has been adduced to prove their participation in the crime.
Kasolo told court in his defence that apart from spending more than 48 hours in detention without being taken to court, the confession statement taken from him was done after being tortured by police so he could admit to having participated in the crime.
Kasolo who is described as the mastermind of the kidnap, murder and robbery says he didn't know any of the other five co-accused prior to the crime.
The other accused also say they have never participated in the crime, with the two boda boda riders saying they were only hired to transport people to a certain location in Lungujja and that after dropping them, they left the scene .
They say they don't know what took place after that and insist they never knew that the passengers they took would later participate in the kidnap and subsequent murder of the duo.
