Two former military informers were sentenced to death by Uganda's General Court Martial sitting at Makindye after they pleaded guilty to taking part in a scheme of staged bomb attacks that killed two women in Kampala and Wakiso districts, Daily Monitor reports.
Hamza Lyavaala and Adiil Walusansa received the capital sentence from the court's chairman, Brig Richard Tukacungurwa, who said their part in organising and carrying out the killings showed they would remain a lasting danger to the public, according to Daily Monitor.
Why it matters
The ruling closes one chapter in a case that drew attention because of who the accused were: men who had once worked on the state's side as informers. Their guilty pleas meant the court did not have to weigh contested evidence, and the sentence followed quickly once the admissions were entered.
The case also stands out for its venue. A military tribunal, rather than a civilian court, decided the fate of the two men, and the outcome is among the harshest available under Ugandan law. Coverage of the proceedings was carried by several Ugandan outlets, including Daily Monitor, New Vision, Uganda Radio Network and Nilepost, which tracked the matter through earlier adjournments to the sentencing on Wednesday.
A staged campaign that ended in two deaths
At the centre of the case was a plot in which explosive devices were planted and then presented as attacks, a tactic that in this instance cost two women their lives in Kampala and Wakiso. The court found that Lyavaala and Walusansa were involved both in arranging the operation and in seeing it through.
Brig Tukacungurwa's reasoning rested on the nature of that involvement. In his view, the pair's conduct was not a one-off lapse but evidence of a continuing risk to the community, and that assessment underpinned the decision to impose death rather than a lesser penalty.
Both men had previously served as informers attached to the military, a background that gave the case unusual prominence. Their admissions in court removed the need for a full trial of the facts, and the sentencing brought the matter to a close on the day it had been listed.
What to watch
The sentence is subject to the usual appellate routes available to those convicted by the court martial, and any challenge would be the next development to follow.
