Kitatta convicted of unlawful possession of firearms, to be sentenced on Tuesday

The General court-martial led by Lt Gen Andrew Gutti has convicted the leader of “Boda-Boda 2010” Abdallah Kitatta of multiple offences including unlawful possession of firearms.

Court has also convicted Ngoobi Sowali of unlawful possession of firearms

Meanwhile, the same court has acquitted seven others that have been remanded together with Kitatta of offences of unlawful possession of firearms and military supplies.

The acquitted include Joel Kibirige, Matia Senfuka, Hassan Sebatta, John Sebandeke, Hussein Mugema, Amon Twinomujuni, and Fred Bwanika.

Lt Gen Gutti adjourned the case for tomorrow 14th May when he will deliver the sentence

Kitatta together with his co-accused have been on remand for 16 months since they were arrested at the start of 2018.

The lawyer who represented Kitatta and Ngoobi, Mr. Shaban Sanya defended his clients by pointing out several factors before the court-martial to be considered before handing them the final sentence. They included the following;

That Kitatta has not been involved in any likely case before and this was the first of such offences he has been convicted

That convicts have got families and other people they take care of and therefore their lives would be miserable if the convicts are given a long sentence

That Kitatta has for a long time been suffering from diabetes which would worsen his health condition if sentenced in prison

That Kitatta has been a loyal member of the National Resistance Movement (NRM), the ruling party which he serves as its chairman in Lubaga division and in the process serving his country.

That Ngobi Sewali had a clean record as a policeman and served with discipline before he was arrested and remanded, something court should consider.

That the convicts have learned a lot during the time they have spent on remand of about 16 months and they are ready to change

That the pistol which Kitatta was found with, was given to him by police officials and besides, it was found that it had not fired any bullet by the time he was arrested

That the convicts have exhibited a high level of discipline during their time on remand which should be considered by the court

That Kitatta was not guided well by the police authorities on how to handle the firearms given to him

The lawyer asked the court to consider all the above factors and be lenient when handing the sentence to the convicts