Uganda

Appellant was convicted of defilement of a girl less than 18 years old and was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment. Trial testimony established that while the 13-year-old girl and her younger sister were fetching water at a well, appellant, disguised as a ghost, ordered the two to remove their dresses, blindfolded them, and led them through a swamp to some bush where he had sexual intercourse with the older sister. He then left the sisters in the bush overnight, and the sisters’ father was unable to find them.

Appellant was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. The deceased, a 16-year-old girl, lived with her mother and brother. For approximately a year, the deceased would sneak out and have sexual intercourse with appellant, a married man who lived approximately 200 meters away from the deceased. A week before the incident, the deceased told her mother that appellant had impregnated her. This greatly displeased her mother, and she reported this to LCs officials.

This is an appeal challenging a rape conviction and sentencing of 15 years imprisonment. Appellant, an army sergeant, went to a village and used a gun to murder his maternal uncle. On the same day, he led his victim, a widow of appellant’s late brother, to an abandoned house and raped her at gunpoint. Three days later, the victim reported the incident and was medically examined. Because she recently had a baby, the medical examiner was unable to find any physical damage to her body.

The appellants are brothers appealing their conviction for the murder of wife of the first appellant, Kooky Sharma.  The first Appellant and the deceased lived in a two-family building.  On the night of the murder, their neighbors heard two male voices and a woman crying “for a long time” inside the first appellant’s home.  The next day, the local council chairman learned of the victim’s death and visited the home.  The first appellant told him that the victim died of malaria.  The chairman was not satisfied with the explanation, noting that the victim’s clothing co

Uganda allows for customary law to govern many situations, but the Succession Act restricts their applicability in inheritance cases.  It enshrines women’s right to inherit from husbands, but also privileges men because 1) the property of a married woman who dies intestate automatically will go to her spouse, unlike a man who dies intestate; 2) the matrimonial home will go to the legal heir, the determination of which prioritizes male relatives; 3) a widow (or widows in polygamous marriages, who must share) may only inherit 15% of her husband’s estate; and 4) maintenance and occupancy

The trial court found the appellant guilty of attempted murder for splashing acid on the female complainant.  The appellant allegedly knocked on the victim’s door on July 28, 2001, and splashed “a corrosive substance.”  The trial court relied on testimony from a security guard and the victim, who knew her attacker from school.  On appeal, the appellant argued that the trial judge erred in confirming the life imprisonment sentence.

Here, Justice Lydia Mugambe held that Mulago National Referral Hospital’s negligence and the resulting disappearance of the couple’s baby amounted to psychological torture for the parents and violated their rights to health and access to information. Specifically, Justice Mugambe held that a woman’s inability to access sufficient antenatal care demonstrates a failure on the part of the State to fulfill its obligations under the right to health.

The petitioner father filed for divorce from the respondent mother and custody of their child.  After the birth of their child in 2007, the respondent left the matrimonial home without returning.  After over two years of absence, the petitioner filed for divorce.  The two elements of desertion are the actual absence of a spouse and their intent to abandon the union.  In this case, the respondent travelled internationally with the child at the petitioner’s expense and refused requests to move to Uganda once she obtained citizenship.  In 2011, she moved back to Uganda

This appeal was limited to sentencing only. Appellant was convicted of defilement of a six-year-old girl and was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment. Appellant was a teacher at the victim’s school. The school held a special program for students during school holidays. During this program, appellant took the victim into his office at school and had sexual intercourse with her. Despite his warning not to tell anyone, the victim told her brother, who told her parents. A medical examiner confirmed that she had been defiled.

The petitioners sued to have several provisions of the Divorce Act declared void on the grounds that they discriminated on the basis of sex.  The Court held that sections 4, 5, 21, 22, 23, 24 and 26 of the Divorce Act are void in so far as they discriminate on the basis of gender, so the grounds for divorce as listed are available to both sexes and the compensation for adultery, costs against a co-respondent, alimony, and settlement are applicable to both sexes.