The anti-child sacrifice coalition has applauded the life imprisonment sentence handed to city businessman Godfrey Kato Kajubi by Masaka High Court for taking the life of 12-year-old Joseph Kasirye.
The coalition that comprises of ANPPCAN Uganda Chapter, Uganda Child Rights NGO Network, Save the Children, World Vision and Plan International, said they are happy that Kajubi has been finally sentenced.
In a joint press statement over the weekend, the coalition said that after 4 years of relentless effort in following up the case, they are happy that Kato Kajubi was finally jailed for life.
On Thursday, Masaka High Court Judge Mike Chibita convicted Kajubi before sentencing him to life imprisonment for masterminding the killing of Kasirye on October 27, 2008 in Masaka.
Following Kasirye’s murder by a witch doctor Umar Katerega and his wife Mariam Nabukeera, Kajubi, according to prosecution, took away his head and private parts for sacrifice so as to swell his business in Kampala, Jinja and Masaka.
Speaking on behalf of the coalition, Anslem Wandega, the Executive Director ANPPCAN, said Kajubi’s case has been fairly concluded, despite its hard start.
Wandera said that although the conviction cannot compensate for the life of Kasirye, it goes a long way in deterring similar occurrences in future.
In April 2010, Masaka High Court judge Moses Mukiibi acquitted Kajubi on grounds that he had no case to answer.
But in November 2010, the State appealed against the decision, saying that the trial judge failed to evaluate the evidence on record and came up with a wrong decision. The State sought for Court of Appeal orders for the trial judge to either put Kajubi on his defence or to order for a retrial before another judge.
In their ruling, the three justices of the Court of Appeal led by Amos Twinomujuni sided with prosecution and said the 22 prosecution witnesses had proved the case against Kajubi beyond reasonable doubt.
The Court of Appeal judges said the trial judge erred in law by not putting Kajubi on his defence and ordered for the retrial before another judge.
Kajubi, however, went into hiding until he was re-arrested in December 2011 in Kajansi on Entebbe road, apparently in another witch doctor’s shrine.
Despite registering this success, Wandera says child sacrifice is still rampant.
According to the Anti-Human Sacrifice and Trafficking Taskforce and Police annual crime report, more than 72 children have been murdered and scores more have gone missing since 2006.
The coalition has in the light of the above worrying figures in their press statement, urged government to amend the 1957 Witchcraft Act to clearly differentiate between traditional healers from quacks to ease its implementation.
They also want government to set up special courts to try those accused of sacrificing children, citing case backlog by the current existing courts.
