A court in Uganda has awarded Ush50 million to the mother of a 15-year-old son who was shot dead in Kampala during protests.
The high school student was shot dead by security officers during protests in November 2020.
Amos Segawa, who was by then a student at Lubiri High School was shot dead during a commotion as police and army officers intervened to contain riots that erupted in Kampala on November 18, 2020, after the arrest of Robert Kyagulanyi alias Bobi Wine.
Bobi Wine, who was a presidential candidate at that time, had been arrested in Luuka District.
President Museveni in a televised interview, admitted that about 54 civilians were shot dead by security forces during the riots in Kampala.
As a result, the President pledged that the government would compensate the families of the victims but no grieving family has received compensation so far.
The mother of the 15-year-old high school student, Hajara Nakitto had petitioned the court, stating that her son’s killing completely shuttered her life.
She had asked for compensation of Ush200 million and Ush5 million for damages.
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As a result, the Kampala High Court on Tuesday, September 26, ordered the Uganda government to pay Ush50 million to Nakitto as compensation for her son’s killing.
“This court agrees with submissions of applicant’s counsel that indeed the applicant’s son died as a result of the stray bullet which was fired either by the soldiers or the police in an attempt to quell the riots in Kampala,” Justice Musa Ssekaana ruled.
Justice Ssekaana added that the shooting and killing violated Ssegawa’s fundamental right to life, contrary to articles 20 (2) and 22 of the constitution of Uganda, 1995.
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Speaking shortly after the court ruling, Ms. Nakitto appealed to the government to consider compensating her as earlier promised by the president.
She added that she needed money to pay her lawyers and to use the balance to start her own business.
