It has been more than eight years since the demise of Deisre Mirembe, a medical student at Makerere University at the time.
Her death was attributed to a misunderstanding with the then boyfriend, Matthew Kirabo, the prime suspect.
The latest development regarding this case that has had twists and turns indicates that the jury has finally delivered a verdict, a sentence of 30 years.
Kirabo will serve 29 years, 10 months and 23 days at Luzira Maximum Prison.
According to NTV, Justice Henry Isabirye Kaweesa, presiding at the High Court in Mukono, sentenced Dr. Matthew Kirabo to prison for the murder of Desire Mirembe, a 19-year-old undergraduate at Makerere University School of Medicine.
The ODPP, represented by Chief State Attorneys Happiness Ainebyona and Emily Ninsiima, had requested the maximum sentence (death penalty), contending that the deceased had a long, bright future ahead, cruelly cut short by the convict. Nevertheless, Kirabo continued his studies and went on to become a doctor.
Henry Kunya, the convict’s attorney, sought leniency, citing Kirabo’s status as a first-time offender at the age of 32. Kunya also argued that the case relied on circumstantial evidence.
In court, while maintaining his innocence, Dr. Kirabo expressed condolences to Mirembe’s family for the loss of a promising child. He added that during his time on bail as a doctor, he was able to save many lives in the Accident and Emergency Unit at Mulago Hospital and the Maternity Unit in Mulago Kawempe Hospital.
Kirabo was convicted in absentia on May 30, 2022, after he had jumped bail. He was arrested in Nairobi by Interpol Kenya on September 12, 2023, and extradited to Uganda the next day.
Mirembe, Kirabo’s girlfriend, was murdered on July 10, 2015, and her body was dumped in a sugarcane plantation in Lugazi. She was one of only two children of her parents.
