Pastor Ssenyonga Lawyers Running Out Of Ideas For Delaying Tactics In Kayanja Case
A thief has 40 days is a common African proverb. However much the lawyers hired by Pastor Jackson Ssenyonga to defend a number of youth continue to play delaying tactics, the case will and must come to an end.
After claiming that their star witness, Reagan Ssentongo, had crucial evidence on his phone, the court decided that an expert must be brought in to testify that the evidence was genuine and not concocted.
First, they claimed that the expert had not finished with his analysis and asked for a number of adjournments. When this tactic failed, they tried to have Reagan Ssentongo put the evidence before the court, a move that was trashed.
This Friday, in came the expert, a Uganda Police digital forensics examiner, AIP Enoch Kanene, though he claimed he was sick. His claim of sickness can only be verified by him, his God, and his lawyers.
As we await what next they will come up with after they asked for an adjournment, it should be recalled that Ssentongo and his co-accused; Sserugo, Labib Khalifa, Alex Wakamala, and Martin Kagolo, were charged with aggravated robbery and assault and sentenced to six years.
During the court session today, Magistrate Adams Byarugaba was forced to prematurely end another court hearing involving nine youths charged with blackmailing Pastor Robert Kayanja at the Mwanga II Court.
State Attorney Jonathan Muwaganya went the extra mile, suggesting that the expert could testify while seated if he felt unwell, but the defense objected. Consequently, the Magistrate called for a break.
Back from the 20-plus minute break, defense lawyers Humphrey Tumwesigye, Robert Odhiambo, and Bernard Mugenyi saw their request granted for the umpteenth time, and the case was adjourned to March 19, 2026.
“Since this court is not in a position to determine if he is fit to take the stand, and no physician’s report is available, I must consider the witness’s request for time to recover,” Magistrate Byarugaba ruled.
However, the Magistrate issued a stern warning regarding the “cat-and-mouse games” that have caused the case to drag on into a third year. “I can see a cannula on his hand,” the Magistrate noted, adding that the witness even confided in his chambers that he had collapsed the previous day.
Well, without a medical report presented to the court, it is possible for one to think that the continued use of delaying tactics has raised questions about whether the defense is simply attempting to prolong the inevitable.
Prior to the commencement of the case, it was alleged that Ssenyonga’s bodyguard, Israel Waiswa, and personal assistant, Aggrey Kanene, took the young men to a police doctor for a medical checkup. The results were negative, a fact the doctor later confirmed under oath.
Furthermore, several suspects were visibly coached to testify without swearing oaths, a move that, combined with the frequent delays, continues to raise eyebrows.
Notably, in 2022, Reagan Ssentongo and Khalifa Labib were sentenced to six years for aggravated robbery and assault. They are currently seeking bail at the Masindi High Court before Judge Issa Sserunkuuma.
The two men, former workers at Pastor Kayanja’s farm in Kiryandongo, were convicted of attacking Mr. Patrick Turyatemba at his home in April 2020. Chief Magistrate Lucy Kabahuma sentenced them to six years, accounting for the year already spent on remand.