Nakku Jackline v Uganda (Criminal Appeal No. 52 of 2024) [2026] UGSC 45 (27 August 2026)

5 THE REPUBLIC OF UGANDA, IN THE SUPREME COURT OF UGANDA AT KAMPALA, (CORAM: PROF TIBATEMWA - EKIRIKUBINZA, TUHAISE, MADRAMA, BAMUGEMEREIRE, MUTANGULA KIBEEDI, JJSC) CRIMINAL APPEAL NO 52 OF 2024 10 NAKKU JACKLINE} oc connsnnrnonnnnmnnnninninnneinninsnsnnsnsee APPELLANT VERSUS UGANDA} os evnnennnnnsnenonnnennnnnnnnseninannnesesnseRESPONDENT (Appeal from the judgment of the Court of Appeal of Uganda at Kampala in Criminal Appeal No, 406 of 2020 (Buteera, DCJ: Mulyagonja and Mugenyi, 1s UA), delivered on December 13, 2023, arising from High Court Criminal Case No, 381 of 2018 Holden at Mukono) JUDGMENT OF COURT This second appeal arises from the judgment of the Court of Appeal of Uganda at Kampala in Criminal Appeal No. 406 of 2020 wherein the Court of 20 Appeal dismissed the Appellant's appeal against conviction and sentence, thereby affirming the judgment of the High Court of Uganda at Mukono in Criminal Case No. 381 of 2018 (Hon. Lady Justice Susan Okalany), delivered on 11" June, 2019. At the High Court, the Appellant, Nakku Jackline, was indicted for the 25 murder of her husband, Ssenyonjo Eric Kiddu, contrary to Sections 188 and 189 of the Penal Code Act (Cap 120). Following a full trial, the learned trial judge convicted the Appellant on June 1, 2019, and on June 12, 2019, sentenced her to a custodial term of twenty (20) years’ imprisonment. After crediting the period of one (1) year and three (3) months spent on remand, 30 the net sentence to be served was fixed at eighteen (18) years and nine (9) months.

5 Aggrieved by the conviction and sentence, the Appellant appealed to the Court of Appeal, which sustained the trial court's decision in its entirety. Dissatisfied with the outcome of the first appeal, the Appellant lodged this second appeal before this Court under Criminal Appeal No. 0052 of 2024. The background facts established from the record indicate that the

10 Appellant and the deceased, Ssenyonjo Eric Kiddu, commenced dating in February 2013 and subsequently solemnized their marriage on January 3, 2015. The union produced two infant children, namely: Aiden Elijah Ssenyonjo, born on February 14, 2014, and Adrian Geoffrey Kazibwe, born on October 23, 2015. Before her marriage, the Appellant pursued a Bachelor

15 of Science in Marketing at Makerere University Business School but discontinued her studies in 2014, during her second year, due to her first pregnancy,

The marital relationship was fraught with severe and recurring domestic friction. Early in the marriage, the Appellant discovered that the deceased

20 was involved in an extramarital affair with a tenant identified as Imme, which inaugurated a cycle of mutual distrust. In an effort to mitigate ongoing conflict, the family relocated to their unfinished residential house situated at Upper Nabuti, Mukono District. However, disputes escalated over the Appellant's employment at Kazi Foods Logistics and her subsequent

25 enrolment for academic studies at Kyambogo University. The Appellant testified that the deceased confronted her employers and demanded that she choose between her marriage, education, and career, prompting her resignation. In August 2017, the Appellant travelled to Tanzania in search of alternative employment, leaving the children in the care of the deceased.

30 Upon her return to Uganda, the Appellant sought the intervention of the local Probation Office in Mukono in November 2017 to secure access to her children. The Probation Officer mediated a reconciliation agreement under which the Appellant returned to the matrimonial home on condition that the couple would occupy separate bedrooms while working to restore their

35 relationship. Consequently, the deceased occupied the master bedroom, while the Appellant slept on a mattress laid on the floor of the visitor's

5 bedroom, although she occasionally moved her mattress into the master bedroom. The events culminating in the death of the deceased occurred on the night of 13" February, 2018, on the eve of their eldest son's fourth birthday. The Appellant spent the day preparing for the celebration, visiting the child's 10 school and purchasing two cakes from Mukono Bakery. Upon returning home, she hosted her friend, Stella Nakibuka, The deceased arrived home at approximately 6:30 PM carrying milk and eggs, and the family dined together. At approximately 9:30 PM, Stella departed, and a neighbour named Tonny invited the deceased to watch a football match at a nearby 45 commercial venue The deceased returned home after midnight, at approximately 12:30 AM on 14"" February, 2018. The Appellant opened the metallic side door to grant him entry. At that time, their younger child, Adrian, was crying in the children's bedroom, and the housemaid, Akello Evelyn, was awake attending to the 20 child. The Appellant assisted with the child and thereafter retired to the master bedroom with the deceased, leaving him to secure the external door. According to the Appellant's sworn account, she was awakened in the middle of the night by a loud bang originating from the deceased's bed. Upon 25 looking up, she observed two unidentified male intruders physically assaulting her husband. Observing that the bedroom door was open, she fled the room and the house to seek external assistance from neighbours, choosing not to alert the housemaid and the children in the adjacent room out of fear that doing so would draw the assailants’ attention to them 30 The Appellant ran to the residence of a neighbour, Jjaja Bridget, who attempted to dial the police emergency line (999) without success. Jjaja Bridget then telephoned the Appellant's mother before suggesting that they seek assistance from Andrew Nalume, a neighbour who was a police officer. Officer Nalume, accompanied by his wife and other neighbours, blew 35 whistles to raise a public alarm. Upon returning to the deceased's

5 compound, Officer Nalume threw a brick at the front glass door of the house to ascertain whether the attackers remained inside, shattering a glass pane measuring approximately 5 x 7 cm.

Shortly thereafter, the housemaid, Akello Evelyn, emerged from the residence accompanied by three children: Aiden, Adrian, and a relative 10 named Charity Namusoke. Charity informed the gathered neighbours that her father was dead in the bedroom. Neighbours and police officers who entered the master bedroom discovered Ssenyonjo Eric Kiddu lying face down on his bed in a pool of blood, deceased. A post-mortem examination conducted by Dr. Sam Kalungi on 14" February, 2018, confirmed that the 15 cause of death was severe blunt force trauma to the head, resulting in a right frontal-parietal-temporal skull fracture and brain lacerations. At the commencement of the trial before the High Court in Mukono, two assessors were sworn in. These were Ms. Phelly Bisikwa (a 59-year-old retired teacher) and Mr. Ssemukwano Fred (a 40-year-old farmer and 20 businessman). In the course of the trial, Ms. Bisikwa was unable to continue her duties owing to a family bereavement in Mbale. Pursuant to Section 69 of the Trial on Indictments Act (Cap 94), the learned trial judge directed that the trial proceeds with the sole remaining assessor, Mr. Ssemukwano Fred. ‘A Memorandum of Agreed Facts was formally executed by the Appellant, 25 lead defence counsel Mr. Allan Nshimye, lead state prosecutor Ms. Gladys Macrena Nyanzi, and the presiding judge, Hon. Lady Justice Susan Okalany. By virtue of this memorandum, the Post-Mortem Report was admitted as Exhibit PE1 and the Appellant's Physical and Mental Status Examination Report was admitted as Exhibit PE2 and formally received into evidence 30 without objection. The prosecution called eleven (11) witnesses to substantiate the charge of murder. The key prosecution evidence may be summarized as follows: Fridah Nalwoga (PW3), the mother of the deceased, testified that the | marriage was plagued by the Appellant's continuous infidelity. She claimed 3s that in May 2017, the deceased intercepted calls on the Appellant's

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