Ggaba Daycare Massacre: Court of Appeal Sets Panel for Death-Row Convict's Plea

The Ugandan judiciary is moving forward with the legal challenge surrounding one of the country’s most shocking recent tragedies. A panel of three Court of Appeal justices has been officially constituted to hear an appeal filed by Christopher Okello Onyum, a death-row inmate seeking to overturn his conviction and death sentence.

The newly formed appellate bench includes Justices Christopher Gashirabake, Eva Luswata, and John Mike Musisi. This panel will examine the records and proceedings from the initial High Court trial that resulted in Onyum receiving the death penalty earlier this year.

Onyum was convicted on April 30 on four counts of murder. The original trial, presided over by Justice Alice Komuhangi Khaukha, took place swiftly through a mobile court set up at the Ggaba Community Grounds close to the crime scene. The proceedings concluded in less than a month, establishing that the accused entered the Ggaba Early Childhood Development Centre and fatally stabbed four toddlers within a span of just seven minutes.

Defense legal teams are now asking the appellate court to quash the conviction and set aside the severe sentence, bringing renewed public attention to the case as the justices prepare to review the arguments. Read more details about this developing legal process in the Daily Monitor.