Court Upholds Godi Sentence

Former Arua Municipality MP Hussein Akbar Godi is to serve his 25 year jail term as it was handed down to him by Mukono High Court in 2010.

The Court of Appeal Friday morning upheld the said sentence after revisiting the evidence of the 30 prosecution witnesses adduced at the trial.

Former MP Godi Akbar has 14 days to appeal to the Supreme Court

Godi had appealed against his 25 year sentence handed to him in February 2011 for the December 2008 murder of his wife Rehema Ceasar Nasur.

The two judges, the Acting Deputy Chief Justice Steven Kavuuma assisted by Remmy Kasule, did not find fault with trial Judge Lawrence Gidudu’s ruling. The judges agreed that Gidudu had properly evaluated the evidence and applied the law in convicting the youthful MP.

In their ruling, the judges noted that there was overwhelming circumstantial evidence to link the jailed former MP to the murder of his wife.

The judges pointed out that Godi’s pistol and spent cartilages found at the scene linked him to the crime. They also said that soil samples composition found on shoes picked from his Bwebajja home matched those at the scene of the crime.

Rehema Ceasar Nasur was shot dead in Lukojja in Nama sub-county, Mukono district on December 4, 2008.

The judges said that Godi had failed to convince the court because the car UAG 255J Rav 4, the pistol and shoes definitely linked him to the murder.

They ruled that Godi control over these articles and could not give satisfactory explanation how they ended up at the scene of the crime at some point.

Godi is said to have shot his 19-year-old wife on 4 Dec, 2008 at around 4am at Lukojjo village. According to a post mortem report prepared on 10 Dec 2008, she died of excessive bleeding from the bullet wound.

The judgment was read out by Justice Kasule on behalf of the three judges. Kasule explained at the beginning of the hearing of Godi’s appeal, they had been three judges.

Unfortunately their colleague Constance Byamugisha, the former acting Deputy Chief Justice died before appending her signature to the ruling.

He also explained that Godi has a right to appeal against their ruling in 14 days to the Supreme Court.