The Court of Appeal has sustained the murder conviction and 25-year, seven-month jail sentence handed to nurse Esther Ajupo over the killing of her boyfriend, Ian Masembe, in Kampala’s Kiwatule area.
Ajupo had petitioned the appellate court seeking to overturn both the conviction and sentence issued by the High Court in 2022. Through her lawyers, she argued that the prosecution case was largely based on unreliable circumstantial evidence and hearsay testimony.
She also maintained that the sentence imposed was harsh and failed to sufficiently consider mitigating factors, including her responsibility as a mother.
According to evidence presented in court, Ajupo spent the night of August 25, 2020, at Masembe’s residence in Kiwatule Central Zone. During the night, neighbours reportedly heard distress sounds and groaning from the house for close to an hour, prompting some residents to investigate.
Witnesses told court that they later found Ajupo outside the residence speaking on the phone. Initially, she reportedly informed neighbours that there was no problem before later claiming that Masembe had injured himself with a knife.
Police officers who responded to the scene discovered Masembe’s body in the bathroom with multiple stab wounds. Medical findings later showed that he died from severe bleeding resulting from the injuries.
In her defence, Ajupo insisted that Masembe had taken his own life. She testified that he had gone to bathe before she heard him crying out in pain. According to her account, she found him stabbing himself but failed to intervene after he allegedly locked himself in the bathroom and told her to stay away.
However, the appellate judges found her explanation unbelievable and inconsistent with the evidence presented during trial.
In a ruling delivered by Justices Hellen Obura, Margaret Tibulya and Esta Nambayo, the court concluded that the prosecution had established Ajupo’s guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
The judges noted that despite claiming to have witnessed Masembe harming himself, Ajupo neither called for help nor alerted neighbours immediately.
The court also observed that she assured concerned residents that everything was fine even though Masembe was lying dead inside the house.
The panel ruled that the surrounding circumstances pointed directly to Ajupo’s involvement in the killing and could not reasonably support any other explanation.
The judges further dismissed arguments from the defence that the lack of DNA and fingerprint evidence weakened the prosecution’s case.
They held that although such forensic evidence could have strengthened investigations, the circumstantial evidence on record was sufficient to sustain the conviction.
The court also rejected submissions suggesting that the nature of the injuries supported a theory of suicide, describing those claims as speculative.
On sentencing, Ajupo’s lawyers had urged the court to reduce the punishment, citing her youth, clean criminal record and parental responsibilities. They also argued that courts should consider alternatives to imprisonment for mothers with dependent children.
But the Court of Appeal found no justification to interfere with the sentence imposed by the High Court, thereby dismissing the appeal in its entirety.
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