The former Managing Director pine Car bond, Muhammad Ssebuwufu, who was convicted in 2019 for the kidnap and murder of Betty Donah Katusabe over a debt of Shs10m, has been released from prison today following a presidential pardon.
Ssebuwufu who has spent 11 years in Luzira prison was initially sentenced to 40 years in prison, but in a 2025 ruling, a panel of three Court of Appeal Justices reduced his sentence to 18 years after re-evaluating the evidence and finding that the lower court’s sentence was excessively harsh.
Following his release on Friday, Ssebuwufu, while appearing in an interview with NTV thanked President Museveni for his release.
“Mr President, I am extremely happy to be one of the people you have remembered to be pardoned and released from prison because I begged you the first time and the second time, but am extremely happy that you have signed my release today and am going to sleep at home with my children am extremely happy” he said.
He further said he has forgiven all other actors who were involved in the case further denying any involvement in the murder of the late Katusabe.
“Our disputes with you people were about land and houses, then you came and said I commanded. What has hurt me most during my imprisonment is that you would have said I commanded that they beat a man but to say I commanded all of you to beat the woman, women are not beaten, they are simply explained to” he said.
He further congratulated President Museveni on winning his seventh term as president, ensuring his release and vowed to carry out any work assigned to him by the president as he used to do in the past before his imprisonment.
“I thank you that all the cases they were trying to file have been removed from courts, am extremely happy and ask you my boss (President Museveni) , I ask to meet you and even I don’t meet you, wherever I will be sent, any job like I used to do I will carry them out” he said.
In a statement, the Uganda Prisons Service confirmed that the pardon was granted under Article 121(4)(a) of the 1995 Constitution of Uganda, on the advice of the Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy.
“President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, in accordance with Article 121 (4) (a) of the 1995 Constitution of the Republic of Uganda (as amended), and on the advice of the Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy, has exercised his constitutional powers to grant a pardon to Convicted Prisoner No. 489, Hajji Muhammad Ssebufu, in an instrument dated 21st February 2026,” the statement read.
In 2019 High Court Judge Flavia Anglin Ssenoga found Ssebufu and seven co-accused guilty of abducting and torturing Katushabe over an outstanding debt of Shs 9 million.
Court records show that Katushabe had purchased a Toyota Premio (registration number UAX 481H) for Shs 17 million. She had paid Shs 8 million, leaving a balance of Shs 9 million — a dispute that prosecutors said culminated in her violent death.
Evidence presented by 26 prosecution witnesses established that Katushabe was forcibly taken from Bwebajja and later tortured at Pine Car Bond on Lumumba Avenue in Kampala on October 21, 2015. She later succumbed to her injuries.
One witness testified that he arrived at the scene and saw Ssebufu kicking and punching the victim.
Justice Ssenoga sentenced Ssebufu to 40 years in prison and ordered him, together with his co-convicts, to compensate the deceased’s family with Shs 100 million.
Defense Arguments
During mitigation, defense lawyer Evans Ochieng urged the court not to impose the death penalty, arguing that the case did not meet the threshold of the “rarest of the rare” category reserved for capital punishment.
He maintained that the accused were first-time offenders and that the crime was not a meticulously planned, premeditated act warranting the maximum sentence.
Ochieng further argued that Ssebufu, a father of seven, supported a large family and operated a business employing more than 500 Ugandans, who risked losing their livelihoods if he were handed a lengthy custodial term.
Co-Accused and Dropped Charges
The seven individuals convicted alongside Ssebufu are Paul Tasingika, Shaban Odutu alias Golola, Philip Mirambe, Kayiza Godfrey, Stephen Lwanga, Yoweri Kitayimbwa, and Damaseni Ssentongo.
Initially, former Kampala Central Police Station Commander Aaron Baguma was also charged in connection with the case. However, in January 2018, the Directorate of Public Prosecutions withdrew all murder charges against him at the commencement of the trial.
In 2016, relatives of the deceased had written to the DPP requesting the withdrawal of charges against Baguma, citing the support he had extended to the family, including facilitating meetings with the then Inspector General of Police, Kale Kayihura.
