The Court of Appeal has upheld the conviction and 25-year, seven-month prison sentence of Esther Ajupo, a nurse found guilty of murdering her boyfriend, Ian Masembe, in Kiwatule, Kampala.
Ajupo had challenged both her conviction and sentence following a 2022 High Court decision, which found her guilty of murder.
She argues that the trial judge had relied on weak circumstantial and hearsay evidence and imposed an excessive sentence without adequately considering mitigating factors, including her role as a mother of young children.
Court records show that on the night of August 25, 2020, Ajupo visited Masembe at his residence in Kiwatule Central Zone.
During the night, neighbours reportedly heard groaning noises coming from the house for nearly an hour.
Several residents later went to check on the situation and found Ajupo outside the house making a phone call.
According to evidence accepted by the court, Ajupo initially told the neighbours that there was no problem before later claiming that Masembe had stabbed himself.
Police officers who responded to the scene found Masembe’s body lying in a bathroom, with about ten stab wounds.
According to her testimony, she found Masembo stabbing himself with a knife but was unable to stop him after he allegedly shut himself in the bathroom door and ordered her to leave him alone.
However, the Court of Appeal found her account incredible and inconsistent with the surrounding circumstances.
In a judgment delivered in Kampala, a panel of three justices, Hellen Obura, Margaret Tibulya and Esta Nambayo, dismissed Ajupo’s appeal in its entirety, ruling that the evidence presented by the prosecution sufficiently proved her involvement in the killing.
The Court of Appeal therefore found no error in the sentence imposed by the trial court, effectively affirming both Ajupo’s conviction and her 25-year, seven-month prison term.
By URN
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