A petition by John Sanyu Katuramu, a death row convict, to the Supreme Court, demands his release after years in jail for murder.
Katuramu, a former prime minister of Tooro Kingdom got his death row sentence commuted to life in prison for 20 years in 2009. He argues in his November 29 petition that he has spent far too long in jail.
Katuramu and two others were on September 11, 2001 sentenced to hang for the murder of Prince Happy Kijanangoma and Stephen Kaganda, a guard, on March 25, 1999.
Katuramu’s sentence was commuted to life in prison after Susan Kigula and 400 other death row inmates successfully appealed against their sentences in the Supreme court in 2009.
The Supreme Court then ruled that if someone is convicted and sentenced to death and is not hanged within three years, then the High court would revisit his or her sentence to a maximum of life in prison for 20 years.
Through his lawyer Ladislaus Rwakafuuzi, Katuramu argues that whereas most of his inmates have had their sentences revisited, his and that of 17 others have not.
If Katuramu’s petition is not successful or he is not granted a prerogative of mercy by the president, he may stay in prison till 2020.
According to prison guidelines, a countdown for a convict begins with the 30 full days of the first month and after that the prison has powers to slash 10 days off the subsequent months of the prison term if a prisoner is well behaved.
“It is a gross mistake for the Supreme court in this 2009 verdict not to remind prison administrators that whoever behaves must benefit from the remission,” says Rakafuuzi.
In reply, the Attorney General contends that this petition should be thrown out because it is time barred. While cerebrating two years of Salt Media Group’s existence on October 30, Pastor Aloysius Bugingo, head of the house of prayers international Church, asked President Museveni to pardon Katuramu.
The then trial High court judge J.B. Katitsi acquitted Bob Weswala, who had been accused of hiring out a gun to the assailants and Jimmy Okum Rembo who booked them (assailants) in Hotel Continental a few days to the murder.
“We plead with President Yoweri Museveni to exercise his constitutional prerogative of mercy and pardon Katuramu who is now reformed and a born again Christian. He could have participated in the murder of [Happy] Kijanangoma but if the president pardoned Nassur Abdullah, [former Governor of Central province in Idi Amin’s regime], there is no harm in pardoning Katuramu,” Bugingo told thousands of his followers at Canaan Land Church in Kampala.
Bugingo also announced that he had bought Katuramu’s Voice of Toro (VOT).
slubwama@observer.ug