KAMPALA.
The proprietor of Pine Car Bond in Nakasero, Kampala, Muhammad Ssebuwufu, who was convicted in 2019 for the October 21, 2015, kidnap, aggravated robbery and murder of a client, Betty Donah Katusabe, has been regained his freedom following a presidential pardon.
Ssebuwufu was initially sentenced to 40 years in prison, but in a 2025 ruling, a panel of three Court of Appeal Justices reduced his sentence to 18 years after re-evaluating the evidence and finding that the sentence by the lower court was too harsh.
“I want to take this opportunity to thank President Museveni for finally considering my appeal to him. Who am I! I will continue doing what I was doing. I want to let my clients know I’m back in business as usual. I forgive all those who falsely accused me. I also thank Donah’s family for listening to my pleas and ask them to make me part of their family,” Ssebuwufu said moments after being release from Luzira Prision on Friday .
Ssebuwufu’s release comes barely three years after the Supreme Court in Kampala upheld his 18-year jail sentence.
In a unanimous decision delivered on September 6, 2023, a panel of five Supreme Court justices, Faith Mwondha, Prof Lillian Tibatemwa-Ekirikubinza, Percy Night Tuhaise, Mike Chibita, and Stephen Musota, found no reason to alter the sentences previously handed to Ssebuwufu and three others by the Court of Appeal in connection with the aforementioned murder.
In 2019, then Justice Flavia Anglin Ssenoga convicted Ssebuwufu, along with Godfrey Kayiza (alias Godi), Phillip Mirembe, Paul Tasingika, Yoweri Kitayimbwa, Damasseni Ssentongo, Shaban Odutu (alias Golola), and Stephen Lwanga, who received a 7-year sentence for being an accessory to the offence.
The group was found guilty of kidnapping Katusabe from her home in Bwebajja along Entebbe road on October 21, 2015, and transporting her to Pine Car bond along Lumumba Avenue in Kampala, where they subjected her to torture using sharp objects.
Katusabe had reportedly failed to pay a balance of Shs 9 million for a vehicle she had purchased from Ssebuwufu’s bond valued at Shs17 million. The convicts also stole Katusabe’s sim cards and a mobile phone worth Shs300,000. As a result, Justice Ssenoga sentenced them to serve concurrent punishments ranging from 20 to 40 years for three offences of kidnap with intent to murder, murder, and aggravated robbery.
Ssenoga also ordered them to compensate Katusabe’s family with Shs 100 million for their loss. However, all the convicts, except Stephen Lwanga, appealed against the sentence. In 2021, Court of Appeal justices Fredrick Egonda-Ntende, Catherine Bamugemereire, and Christopher Izama Madrama found the sentences to be harsh and excessive.
They reduced the years of punishment for each convict, with Ssebuwufu receiving an 18-year term, and the others receiving 16 years plus additional months ranging from five to 11 months.
Despite this reduction, the convicts were still dissatisfied with the Court of Appeal’s decision. Ssebuwufu argued that the Court of Appeal Justices had erred in upholding his murder conviction without proof of malice aforethought and his participation. The group also criticised the Court of Appeal for confirming a Shs100 million compensation order without justification and for overlooking mitigating factors such as their time spent on remand.
However, the prosecution urged the court to dismiss the appeal, stating that the convicts were duly charged and convicted for their heinous crimes, with no valid defense. In their decision on Wednesday, the final appellate court justices indicated that, based on the nature of Katusabe’s injuries, there was no doubt that she was maliciously killed by Ssebuwufu and the others. They affirmed that Ssebuwufu was at the crime scene, and Katusabe’s arrest was linked to him.
She was also kept at his office, where she was fatally assaulted, and at some point, he participated in her beating.