By Our Reporter
LIRA
A man has been sentenced to serve 35 years in prison over the April 2, 2025 murder of an employee of National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC).
Resident Judge of Lira High Court, Hon. Justice Sarah Birungi Kalibala, sentenced Otim Innocent to 35 years’ imprisonment, after a plea of guilt.
The murder was committed on April 2, 2025 at 3:00 am at Obutowelo B Cell in Lira City West Division, as Mr. Alaru Natal was going to Lira Bus Park to board a taxi back to Moyo District.
Mr. Alaru Natal met Mr. Otim on the way, and Otim mercilessly cut him severely on the head with a panga, leaving him in deep pain. Mr. Alaru was rushed to Lira Regional Referral Hospital by his neighbors, where he passed on shortly upon arrival.
Following a search by the police, a panga with blood stains was recovered from Mr. Otim’s house. The Government Analytical Laboratory Report confirmed that Mr. Otim used the said panga to inflict injuries on the deceased.
Two backpacks containing the deceased’s clothes, national identity card, driving permit, and ATM cards, were also recovered in an incomplete house near Mr. Otim’s house.
After the prosecution had led evidence from 10 witnesses and after the court had put Mr. Otim on his defence, he changed his plea and tendered a plea of guilty.
Before his demise, Mr. Alaru had just gotten his job with NWSC in Lira. He left behind a young widow whom he had just married and a son aged one and a half years.
The violent murder of Natal was a great shock to his family, fellow workers, and the community in which he lived in Lira.
Mr. Jonathan Okello, Chief State Attorney in the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, prosecuted the case.
