High Court Judge Angeline Flavia Senoga was furious with lawyers representing pine car bond boss Muhammad Ssebuufu who is answering murder charges. Senoga’s anger was stirred after lawyers Evans Ochenge and Robert Irumba objected to all the exhibits that the state lawyers tendered in court as evidence. “Counsel do you want this case to be concluded? I’m tired of your delaying tactics. You’re a learned counsel, why are you objecting to everything, may be its better you go back to school so that you understand how such cases are handled,” Senoga fumed.
She further wondered why Ochenge was basing his illegal objections of exhibits on the instructions of his clients especially Ssebuufu. She informed Ochenge that it’s his obligation to advise his clients on the court process and not the client to instruct him on whatever he wants to do in court. Senoga further warned Ochenge to stop playing his delaying tactics because he always asks for long adjournments.
Ochenge informed her that he was instructed by his clients not to allow Peter Henry Warya the investigating officer in this case to testify on the telephone date analysis. Ochenge submitted that according to court criminal procedure, an expert in telephone data analysis must be the one to testify. He said that Warya is lacking that expertise to testify on a scientific report, in this report Warya testified that there was communication between the accused, witnesses and the late Katushabe.
“My lord I insist that the witness doesn’t have expertise to testify on that report, I’m instructed to object that,” Ochenge submitted.
State prosecutor Michael Ojok challenged Ochenge’s submissions and asked court to allow the witness to testify against the exhibits and tender them to court as exhibits. He said that Warya followed all the procedures to collect the contagious exhibits including telephones of the suspects, witnesses and the deceased. He added that Warya obtained court orders, swore affidavits allowing him to take suspects, witnesses and diseased phones to telecom companies to get phone print out which he took to the directorate of cyber-crime in police.
He said that Warya was only going to testify on the way he collected the exhibits and prosecution was going to call the experts to testify on the way they examined the exhibits.
However, Ssebuufu’s lawyer Ochenge refused saying that they are not going to cross examine the witness because he was incompetent to testify on the exhibits. Ochenge’s defiance angered the judge who told him to apply for her to quit his client’s case because he is tired of being delayed by him. She over ruled him and allowed the witness to testify on the exhibits.
In his testimony, Warya revealed that there was a conversation between Ssebuufu, his co- accused and the deceased on the day she was murdered. He revealed that the telephone print out showed that Ssebuufu himself called Katushabe’s sister Lillian Kabugo who was in Kasese asking her to send his balance of sh9m which he was demanding from Katushabe. Katushabe also called Kabugo to help her with money because Ssebuufu was threatening to kill her after beating her badly. He testified that Ssebuufu told Kabugo to send his money on Godfrey Kayiza’s number (co-accused with Ssebuufu).
He said that unfortunately, Katushabe’s phone was stolen and he suspects that it was stolen by the suspects to hide the evidence against them. He revealed that he managed to get the sim card print out from MTN and airtel companies which indicated that there was communication between the suspects, witnesses and her.
The state alleges that Ssebuufu and others in 2015 murdered Betty Katushabe over Shs9 million balance she owed them after buying a Toyota premio car from his pine car bond at Shs 17 million. The case was adjourned to 10th September.
