Lt Ivan Manzi Appearing Before the Court Martial in Kampala
The UPDF General Court Martial has sentenced Lt. Ivan Manzi, a Rwandan refugee to two years in jail after finding him guilty of illegal possession of a firearm and live ammunition.
The Gen. Court Martial Chairperson, Lt. General Andrew Gutti delivered the verdict on Tuesday afternoon. The prosecution told the court that around September 2nd, 2020 while at Kikwaya village in Kikwaya Sub-county in Kakumiro district, Manzi was found in unlawful possession of a black star with five bullets, which are ordinarily a monopoly of defence forces.
Manzi first appeared before the Makindye based military court on September 21st 2020 for unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition. Court also heard that the pistol in question belongs to Dr. Kasirivu Atwooki, a former parliamentary candidate.
Manzi was Atwooki’s campaign agent. initially, Manzi pleaded not guilty to the charges and was remanded to prison. He, however, changed his plea to guilty when the matter came up for hearing last month. This prompted the court to read for him the charges against him and the brief facts of the case, which he confirmed to be true.
The prosecutors told the Court that although Manzi has no known past criminal record, the offence against him is rampant and needs a deterrent sentence. However, Manzi’s lawyers asked the court to give him a lenient sentence on grounds that he didn’t waste the court’s time and resources.
They also argued that their client was produced in court almost a month after his arrest, which violated his Constitutional rights. In his sentence readout on Tuesday afternoon, Gen. Gutti noted that the court had taken of the fact that Manzi is a first time offender, has a family and that he has spent a year and more than seven months on remand and jailed him for two years.
He however noted that the former officer of the Rwanda Defense Forces will only spend two months and twenty-five days in prison taking into account the days he has spent on remand. According to the Firearms Act, the maximum sentence for illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition is 10 years imprisonment.
-URN
