A court in Busia County has sentenced an assist chief to 115 years in prison for triggering arson.
The court found Andrew Odato guilty of making inflammatory utterances over the death of one Ceremin Ongamo who died after short battle with unknown ailment.
The administrator was arraigned and charged with arson in June 2016 after 10 houses belonging to one family were burnt down following his remarks.
Odato accused a family from Okame village in Teso South for being behind the death of Ceremin.
The utterances led the villagers torching and destroying the property of that family as they burnt down houses.
The administrator argued that the incident happened at night and he could make it to the scene due to security risks.
The court rejected that argument as Olengo noted that the prosecution had proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused triggered the incident that left more than 32 family members homeless.
“When the houses were being burnt, he did not bother to find out what was going on despite being in-charge of security of that area,” the judgement read in part.
The court was satisfied by the testimony of the prosecution witnesses who revealed that Odato was at the scene and even recognised him by his voice on that fateful night.
