On 23rd April 2026, the Office of the DPP has registered success in the prosecution of Tumwesigye Vincent for aggravated homosexuality. The High Court of Uganda at Kampala, presided over by Hon. Justice Isaac Muwata, has convicted Vincent Tumwesigye for the offence of aggravated homosexuality and sentenced him to 18 years’ imprisonment.
This was after the accused person voluntarily pleaded guilty under a plea bargain. The evidence presented in court revealed that the 30-year-old accused person was a security guard in the residence occupied by the victim’s parents, and that the convict had inflicted patterns of sexual abuse upon a six-year-old child, BT, by stimulating him relentlessly.
The child’s complaints of pain, the mother’s discovery of physical injuries, and the subsequent medical findings of trauma and wounds on the genital area of the victim formed a strong evidentiary backbone. It was also the evidence of the prosecution that the convict had recurrently manipulated, intimidated, and repeatedly abused the victim.
The threats allegedly issued by the accused ranged from death threats to fantastical fears of monsters. The acts of the convict caused emotional and psychological distress to the victim. At the pre-trial stage, the accused had sought release on bail. However, the court, exercising sound judicial discretion, declined the application.
The matter was thus set down for full trial. When the case came up for hearing on, 23rd April 2026, the prosecution, led by Timothy Amerit, Senior State Attorney in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, was fully prepared to proceed. Four witnesses had been assembled and presented in court to testify.
However, in a decisive and strategic shift, the accused opted to enter into a plea bargain at the very commencement of the trial. Upon making an unequivocal plea and acceptance of the plea bargain agreement, Hon. Justice Muwata convicted Tumwesigye Vincent and sentenced him to 18 years’ imprisonment, which he had agreed upon. The accused’s voluntary acceptance of the sentence not only expedited the conclusion of proceedings but also spared the young victim the [re-]trauma of testifying in court.
