The High Court in Entebbe has sentenced Rev Fr Dominic Alinga, to 21 years imprisonment over the murder of Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) official, John Bosco Ngorok in August 2024 in Entebbe.
The Entebbe resident judge, Hon Lady Justice Flavia Nabakooza on Thursday, sentenced Rev Fr Alinga to 21 years imprisonment on the charges of murder and a 10 years imprisonment sentence for the attempted murder of Abigaba Mugisha, a boda Boda operator contrary to sections 171 and 172 of the Penal Code Act and section 187, cap 128 respectively following his conviction after he pleaded guilty to both charges.
During sentencing Justice Nabakooza noted that the fact that Rev Fr. Alinga had pleaded guilty was a sign of a person who was remorseful, which brought the sentence down from a death sentence, although the case is a rare case which deserves a death sentence.
“The convict being 34 years old and a Catholic priest, I believe a life imprisonment will not rehabilitate him, therefore, I have sentenced Rev Fr. Dominic Alinga in count one of the murder of the late John Bosco Ngorok to 21 years, 10 months and 27 days. I deduct the one year, 10 months and 27 days, so he will serve 20 years” she said.
She added, “In count two, I sentence Rev Fr Dominic Alinga to 10 years,that is the case of Abigaba, attempted murder, which is also a life imprisonment, I have reduced it to 10 years because you have saved court’s time”.
The ruling stems from an incident on 2nd August 2024, when Rev. Father Alinga, suspecting that John Bosco Ngorok had exposed his secrets leading to his suspension, lured him into a meeting. While travelling together towards Entebbe, Rev. Father Alinga attacked and stabbed Ngorok. As Ngorok attempted to seek help, he was assisted by Moses Abigaba, whom Rev. Father Alinga also targeted, knocking them with a vehicle before fleeing the scene.
Ngorok later succumbed to his injuries at Entebbe regional Hospital, following the incident, Rev. Father Alinga attempted to conceal evidence and fled to Tororo, where he later confessed to a fellow priest and handed himself over to police.
During his first arraignment before the High court a fortnight back, Fr Alinga denied the two counts of murder and attempted murder, with the defense asking court for time to allow an ongoing traditional reconciliation process.
However on Thursday, Fr Alinga’s defence lawyers led by Counsel Marks Mutabingwa, sought to enter a plea bargain, which was declined by the prosecution.
“I want this honourable court to know that the accused person is interested in Plea bargain, which the state has refused. So that factor should be put into consideration during the proceedings, either during hearing or during sentencing, if the accused happens to be convicted” he said.
He further informed court that Fr Alinga wished to change his plea from not guilty to a guilty plea.
However the resident State Attorney, Ms. Janet Kitimbo informed court that plea bargain is an agreement entered willingly by both parties.
“Neither the State nor the accused person can be compelled to enter into a Plea bargain, so it’s not mandatory that Plea bargain must be entered by parties, it should be consensual” she said.
She added, “The accused should not plead guilty because we have declined to enter into a Plea bargain, he should only plead guilty if he committed the offence, if he did not commit the offence, he should not plead guilty. The Court should clearly indicate to him that he has a right to deny the charges as long as he did not commit the offence”.
During mitigation, the prosecution asked court to sentence Alinga to life imprisonment on the charge of murder and 18 years imprisonment for the attempted murder charge.
The late Ngorok’s family including his wife, mother and elder brother asked court for the maximum sentence of life and declined any compensation from Fr Alinga.
They further informed court that they only got to learn of the said traditional negotiations when they arrived at court on Thursday.
However the defence asked for a lenient sentence since Fr Alinga was a first time offender, had not wasted courts time by pleading guilty to the charges and also consider the fact that the two families were close.
When given an opportunity to address court prior to the sentencing, Fr Alinga asked the two families to reconcile, forgive each other and asked for a lenient sentence from the court.
“I request that you grant me another chance of five years, that is my prayer, my lord. For the reasons I have given in my narration, and being a person of responsibility, much as I’ve let too many down, I pledge myself, if given another chance by you and my family members, much as they have refused compensation or payments, ……, I will commit my life and ministry to the fellow priests and to my family” he said.
He further asked for forgiveness from the Catholic Church and also asked the public to support their religious leaders, especially the priests.
“I apologise to the Catholic Church, I know they are now listening, wherever they are, even my Bishop is listening, I apologise to all of you, I wrote a series of requisitions seeking for dialogue before I entered into a fight against my faith. I apologise to the Catholic Church for this horror, this mess” he said.
He added, “I am not just a priest of my own, support your priests, it’s more than giving money, sometimes people think that it’s only money that priests need, but it’s more than giving money. This is my concluding remarks. Support your priests. I know and imagine what they go through in their holiness” he said.
During sentencing Justice Nabakooba declined the defence request for a short sentence as was in the murder case of Mathew Kanyamunyu noting that the family and prosecution had agreed to the plea bargain, which wasn’t the same in Rev Alinga’s case, where the deceased’s family declined the plea bargain.
“I must say the circumstances in Kanyamunyu’s case are different here. The family of the victim in Kanyamunyu’s case forgave the accused person completely. In this case, the late John Bosco’s family has told court that they just learnt about the negotiations in court” she said.
Justice Nabakooza further ordered Alinga to compensate Abigaba with UGX 10 million, “Your vehicle UBN 050N Toyota Rav 4, be released to your family to facilitate the sale and compensation of the said”.
Court also ordered for the late Ngorok’s property to be released to his wife to enable her look after their children and any other property belonging to Fr Alinga be released to him and his family.
Justice Nabakooza noted that both sentences of 20 years for murder and 10 years for attempted murder will run concurrently.
