An HIV positive man who defiled a 10 year old girl has been ordered to serve his 20 year jail term.
Nganda Andrew Kagwa was convicted of aggravated Defilement on his own plea of guilt by the Mukono High Court and sentenced to a 20 year imprisonment term.
Prosecution had proved that on the 21st of March 20l8 at Kyesereka village, Goma Division in Mukono district, the Appellant while HIV +had carnal knowledge of a ten-year old girl and thereafter gave her 4,000/=.
On returning home, the victim narrated the incident to her mother, which led to the Appellant’s arrest, conviction and sentencing.
Dissatisfied with the sentence handed down by the trial court, the Appellant challenged the sentence, accusing the trial Judge of having erred in law and fact when she handed him a harsh and manifestly excessive sentence.
Three justices of the court of Appeal led by Deputy Chief Justice Richard Buteera have upheld his 20 year jail sentence but deducted the 1 year and 8 months he was on remand leaving him with 18 years and 4 months to serve.
The justices further stated that they did not consider a plea of guilty to be relevant to an appeal against a sentence arrived at pursuant to plea bargaining because that would have been the foundational basis of the plea bargain agreement in the first instance, as would have all the other mitigating factors.
They then ruled that the 20 year sentence that was handed down by the trial court is neither harsh nor excessive.
