The General Court Martial sitting in Makindye has sentenced two state informers to death after convicting them of murder in connection with staged suicide bombing operations in Munyonyo and at Kalerwe Market that claimed two lives ahead of the 2025 Uganda Martyrs Day celebrations.
The convicts, Hamza Lyavala and Hamid Walusansa, pleaded guilty to participating in the plots, which involved delivering explosives to two individuals who were used in the staged attacks.
Prosecution told the court that the operations were organised ahead of the June 3, 2025, Uganda Martyrs Day celebrations.
On Wednesday, the court, presided over by Brig. Richard Tukacungurwa, described the offences as exceptionally grave, placing them among the rare cases in which the death penalty was justified as a deterrent.
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Tukacungurwa said the two men knowingly delivered the explosives to the victims and actively took part in the staged suicide missions. He added that, after the first operation, they willingly agreed to participate in the second one at Kalerwe Market.
“The two convicts intentionally delivered the bombs to the two victims. They directly participated in the fake suicide missions and, after the first one, willingly accepted to participate in the second one at Kalerwe Market. The death sentence is therefore justified,” Tukacungurwa said.
The court consequently handed both men the death penalty on the two counts of murder.
“This court therefore sentences you, Lyavaala Hamuza and Hamid Walusansa, to suffer death for the two offences of murder,” Tukacungurwa ruled.
The chairman, however, informed the convicts that they retained the right to appeal against the sentences.
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