MASAKA, Uganda — The Court of Appeal has increased the prison sentence for a man convicted of sodomy to 33 years, up from the 32 years initially imposed by a lower court.
Justices Hellen Obura, Christopher Gashirabake and Eva Luswata on Wednesday dismissed an appeal by Yakobo Byakaye, 53, challenging his sentence. Byakaye was convicted in 2016 by Masaka High Court Judge Flavian Zeija for sodomizing a 9-year-old boy at the Masaka city golf course.
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The High Court judge had described the act as “beastly” and intended the sentence to serve as a deterrent.
Byakaye, through his lawyer, Joshua Naluswa, argued the sentence was too harsh and did not account for the two years he spent in pretrial detention. He requested a more lenient sentence, citing his age.
The Court of Appeal, however, added a year to his sentence. In a judgment read by Justice Gashirabake, the court stated that Byakaye committed a grave offense that caused permanent injuries to the victim. The court ruled that the initial 32-year sentence was lenient and more typical of defilement cases. The justices said the additional year was warranted to isolate Byakaye from the victim, who suffered physical and emotional trauma.
In a separate case, the Court of Appeal upheld a life imprisonment sentence for Patrick Kaggwa, 54, who was convicted of defiling his twin 12-year-old daughters. Kaggwa, a resident of Rakai district, had appealed his 2011 conviction, arguing that the High Court’s judgment was based on hearsay and uncorroborated evidence. He also claimed the victim did not testify in court.
The Court of Appeal justices dismissed his appeal, citing substantial evidence, including a medical report confirming the victim’s sexual organs were ruptured. The court emphasized the gravity of the offense, stating that Kaggwa abused his parental trust.
“The court heard that the victim was sickly and was suffering from Tuberculosis and died a week after she made the report. Nevertheless, there is evidence that the defilement was repeated, and most likely done in the presence of the victim’s twin sister. The victim before death had also intimated that you could strangle her while abusing her, which could have deteriorated her health condition,” the ruling said.
