Rally driver Ponsiano Rwakataka, has been sentenced to 18 months month after being convicted on charges of malicious damage to property.
Mukono Court grade one magistrate Patience Koburungi, sentenced Rwakataka jointly with his cousin Ssekitoleko John after convicting them on the overwhelming evidence adduced by the state in which it was proved that the two maliciously damaged the fence of Namanya Joseline and damaging the house of Mzee George William Kawooya, a 75-year-old man.
Prosecution led evidence to prove that during the night of 22nd December 2018, at around 1:00am, Rwakataka took a group of people on a fuso lorry from Kampala to a village called Luanda at Seeta- Mukono, and instructed them to pull down the house of the complainant, and they complied.
In the course of the trial, all the accused persons absconded for a period of seven months and were put on warrant of arrest.
The prosecution later applied to proceed in their absence, and this was granted by the trial magistrate and Rwakataka was then re-arrested on 13th September 2022 and remanded pending judgment.
Consequently, the accused persons applied for criminal revision at the High Court, challenging their trial in absentia, which application was dismissed.
