Kampala, Uganda: The Court of Appeal in Kampala has upheld the 12-year and three-month prison sentence handed to Godfrey Wamala, alias Troy, for the 2018 killing of renowned Ugandan musician Moses Ssekibogo, popularly known as Mowzey Radio.
A panel of three justices, Christopher Gashirabake, Dr Asa Mugenyi, and John Mike Musisi, unanimously dismissed Wamala’s appeal in its entirety, ruling that the trial court correctly convicted him of manslaughter based on credible eyewitness testimony and irrefutable evidence.
Wamala had sought to overturn both the conviction and sentence, citing contradictions in the prosecution’s evidence and claiming the sentence was excessive. But the justices affirmed that the sentence, originally 14 years but reduced to 12 years, three months, and four days due to time served on remand, was proportionate to the crime.
Radio, a founding member of the celebrated Goodlyfe Crew, died from fatal head injuries after being violently slammed to the ground by Wamala during a bar brawl at De Bar in Entebbe on January 22, 2018. He succumbed to his injuries a few days later at Case Clinic in Kampala.
Delivering the unanimous judgment, the court said two key eyewitnesses, Pamela Musimire (PW2) and music producer David Otim a.k.a. Washington (PW1), provided consistent and credible accounts clearly identifying Wamala as the assailant.
“The appellant was properly identified by PW1 as being the one who assaulted the deceased,” the justices ruled. “We respectfully disagree with the assessors. We find that this ingredient, causation of death, has been proved beyond a reasonable doubt.”
On Wamala’s claim that the lighting at the bar was too poor for proper identification, the judges disagreed: “Contradictions as to whether the source of light was a bulb or fluorescent tube are immaterial… all witnesses agreed there was ample lighting.”
The court also noted Wamala’s flight from the crime scene, leaving behind his belongings and going into hiding, as behavior incompatible with innocence. “His sudden disappearance from the area is inconsistent with innocent conduct,” they ruled.
Wamala’s lawyer had urged the court to impose a more lenient sentence, proposing five years and citing sentencing precedents like Uganda v Kamyuka Ivan and Elungat Grace Naptal v Uganda. But the justices insisted the gravity of the attack justified the sentence handed down by the High Court.
“The degree of injury inflicted, especially to the head, and the fact that the deceased was thrown onto a concrete floor, causing severe internal damage, justified a heavier sentence,” the ruling stated. “The sentence of 12 years, three months, and four days is not manifestly harsh or excessive. It aligns with sentencing in similar cases.”
The decision, rendered in Criminal Appeal No. 361 of 2019, concludes one of Uganda’s most high-profile criminal cases in recent memory. Radio’s death shocked the country’s music fraternity and fans across the continent. The ruling now brings long-awaited closure to a tragedy that left Uganda’s entertainment scene in grief.
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