A man has been sentenced to death by hanging for the murder of four toddlers at a nursery school in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, earlier this month.
On 2 April, Christopher Okello Onyum, 38, entered the Ggaba Early Childhood Development Program and fatally stabbed the infants – Eteku Gideon, Keisha Agenorwoth, Sseruyange Ignatius and Odeke Ryan – all aged between one and two years old.
While capital punishment has not been abolished in Uganda, it is rarely carried out, with the last recorded case taking place in 2005.
Onyum, who holds both Ugandan and US citizenship, has 14 days to appeal against the sentence.
During the trial, prosecutors said he had admitted the crime and called it a “human sacrifice” that he hoped would make him rich.
However, he later pleaded not guilty, denying intentional wrongdoing.
He maintained that he was suffering from mental illness at the time of the attack and was unable to form the intent to kill, urging the court to acquit him on the grounds of insanity.
Delivering the judgment at a makeshift High Court set up in the community where the tragic murders occurred earlier this month, Justice Alice Komuhangi Khauka said Onyum was “very sane” on the day of the attack.