Court wrap up: Dr Spire Ssentongo followers set fundraiser record

What the report says

Uganda’s courts delivered a series of significant rulings and hearings last week, according to The Observer, spanning murder, bank liability, an attempted assassination case and corruption proceedings. The developments touched both criminal and civil matters in Kampala and other court divisions, highlighting several high-profile disputes that have been moving through the judiciary.

In the most serious criminal case, the High Court sentenced two people to death and seven others to life imprisonment over the 2018 kidnapping and murder of accountant Susan Magara. The court said the attack was planned and brutal, closing a case that began when Magara was abducted in Kampala and later killed after ransom demands. In a separate civil ruling, the court dismissed a Shs 68 million claim against Stanbic Bank after finding that the customer had not shown the bank failed in its duty of care when money was withdrawn through the Flexipay system.

The paper also reported testimony from Public Service Minister Gen Edward Katumba Wamala in the trial over the 2021 attack on his convoy, which killed his daughter and driver. In another case, former Parliament communications director Chris Obore and six other officials were committed to the High Court on corruption-related charges tied to alleged misuse of billions of shillings in parliamentary funds.

Separately, supporters of academic and activist Dr Jimmy Spire Ssentongo quickly raised the Shs 30 million needed for a contempt-of-court fine, after a ruling linked to posts about Kampala International University. The fundraising, which moved rapidly online, was presented as a show of public solidarity around the court dispute.