The High Court in Masaka has directed the prosecution to conclude presenting its evidence in the trial of two key suspects accused of involvement in the 2018 fire that destroyed a dormitory at St Bernard’s Mannya Secondary School in Rakai District, killing ten students and injuring several others.
The suspects, Nio Edison, a former student, and Alex Mugarura, a chapati vendor who operated near the school, are among six people who were initially arrested in connection with the November 11, 2018 inferno.
Four of the suspects were later acquitted after the court failed to find sufficient evidence to sustain the charges against them. The presiding Masaka Senior Resident High Court Judge, Victoria Nakintu Katamba directed Senior State Attorney Deborah Itwau and the prosecution team to summarise their evidence so that the court can proceed to determine the case.
Justice Katamba observed that the trial has taken an unusually long time, resulting in the accused spending an extended period on remand. She said it was in the interest of justice for the case to be concluded so that the remaining accused persons could also know their fate. The directive followed testimony from Rashid Bbosa, the prosecution’s 16th witness and one of the survivors of the fire, who sustained burns to his leg during the incident.
Bbosa testified before court that he was among the first students to notice danger after being awakened by the sound of a plastic bottle thrown through a dormitory window shortly before the fire broke out. He said another object, which appeared to be a lit matchbox, was then thrown into the dormitory. However, he noted that although he saw the person who threw the objects, poor visibility and the urgency to escape the flames prevented him from clearly seeing the culprits.
He therefore told the court that he could not confirm that the two accused persons were indeed responsible for the attack. During cross-examination by defence lawyer Sam Ssekyewa, Bbosa said the school was at the time of the fire incident experiencing an administrative dispute involving the newly appointed head teacher and some members of staff.
He suggested the fire could have been linked to the tensions within the school’s administration, but instead blamed it on some students who had been suspended for alleged misconduct. Ssekyewa argued that the prosecution had failed to produce credible evidence directly linking his clients to the offence. He contended that investigations into the fire were rushed and overlooked critical leads that could have identified the actual perpetrators.
Michael Wakosesa, the State Attorney, told court that prosecution intends to produce two more witnesses who include; two police investigation officers who recorded statements from the witnesses and the Scenes of Crimes Officer who examined exhibits. URN