LDU Officer and Accomplices Sentenced to Prison for Aggravated Robbery
In a recent court case at Jinja High Court, a Local Defence Unit (LDU) personnel named Geoffrey Kibumba, aged 45, was found guilty alongside his co-defendants, Geoffrey Ikuluba, aged 44, from Mafubira Ward in Jinja City, and Gideon Sande, a resident of Nkokonjeru in Buikwe District. They were charged under Section 285 and 286 of the Penal Code Act for aggravated robbery.
According to Ms. Pamela Orogot, the prosecutor, the incident took place on March 21, 2014, when Kibumba conspired with his accomplices to set up a fake roadblock and rob five passengers at gunpoint. The victims were not only robbed of their belongings, including phones, cash, and an Isuzu Truck (registration number UAS 309C), but they were also assaulted and forced to undress.
The prosecution presented key evidence in court, including an AK-47 assault rifle with 30 rounds of live ammunition and mobile phones among other items. Ikuluba and Sande were apprehended after they were discovered selling tires and batteries from the vandalized Isuzu Truck in Mukono Park, which they had abandoned in a sugarcane plantation in Nkokonjeru.
Subsequently, the duo led the police to Kibumba’s house, where they found the AK-47 rifle and military uniform. Ms. Orogot requested a 35-year prison sentence for each convict, emphasizing the seriousness of their offense due to the use of a firearm.
However, Judge Winfred Nabisinde, presiding over Jinja High Court, decided to sentence Kibumba to 35 years for each of the five counts on the grounds that he had misused the firearm, which was meant for protecting citizens. Kibumba’s co-convicts, Ikuluba and Sande, received 25 years for each of the five counts, to be served concurrently.
Justice Nabisinde justified her decision by pointing out that while the victims couldn’t identify the suspects, she relied on the evidence provided by a professional police officer who recovered the stolen items from the convicts. She also noted that the convicts had violated the privacy and personal integrity of their victims by leaving them naked, and the weapon used was deadly, even though no specific injuries were reported.
In their defense, Mr. Robert Esarait, the lawyer representing the convicts, pleaded for a more lenient sentence of around 15 years. He argued that no injuries had been inflicted upon the victims and emphasized that the convicts expressed remorse and had no prior criminal records.
Justice Nabisinde advised the convicts to consider filing an appeal if they were dissatisfied with the judgment and sentence.
