Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has pardoned Hajji Muhammad Ssebufu, who had been serving a 40-year prison sentence for the 2015 murder of businesswoman Donah Katushabe.
Ssebufu, the proprietor of Pine Car Bond in Kampala, was convicted in July 2019 by the High Court for murder, kidnapping, and aggravated robbery.
In a statement, the Uganda Prisons Service confirmed that the pardon was granted under Article 121(4)(a) of the 1995 Constitution of Uganda, on the advice of the Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy.
“President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, in accordance with Article 121 (4) (a) of the 1995 Constitution of the Republic of Uganda (as amended), and on the advice of the Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy, has exercised his constitutional powers to grant a pardon to Convicted Prisoner No. 489, Hajji Muhammad Ssebufu, in an instrument dated 21st February 2026,” the statement read.
The Conviction
High Court Judge Flavia Anglin Ssenoga found Ssebufu and seven co-accused guilty of abducting and torturing Katushabe over an outstanding debt of Shs 9 million.
Court records show that Katushabe had purchased a Toyota Premio (registration number UAX 481H) for Shs 17 million. She had paid Shs 8 million, leaving a balance of Shs 9 million — a dispute that prosecutors said culminated in her violent death.
Evidence presented by 26 prosecution witnesses established that Katushabe was forcibly taken from Bwebajja and later tortured at Pine Car Bond on Lumumba Avenue in Kampala on October 21, 2015. She later succumbed to her injuries.
One witness testified that he arrived at the scene and saw Ssebufu kicking and punching the victim.
Justice Ssenoga sentenced Ssebufu to 40 years in prison and ordered him, together with his co-convicts, to compensate the deceased’s family with Shs 100 million.
Defense Arguments
During mitigation, defense lawyer Evans Ochieng urged the court not to impose the death penalty, arguing that the case did not meet the threshold of the “rarest of the rare” category reserved for capital punishment.
He maintained that the accused were first-time offenders and that the crime was not a meticulously planned, premeditated act warranting the maximum sentence.
Ochieng further argued that Ssebufu, a father of seven, supported a large family and operated a business employing more than 500 Ugandans, who risked losing their livelihoods if he were handed a lengthy custodial term.
Co-Accused and Dropped Charges
The seven individuals convicted alongside Ssebufu are Paul Tasingika, Shaban Odutu alias Golola, Philip Mirambe, Kayiza Godfrey, Stephen Lwanga, Yoweri Kitayimbwa, and Damaseni Ssentongo.
Initially, former Kampala Central Police Station Commander Aaron Baguma was also charged in connection with the case. However, in January 2018, the Directorate of Public Prosecutions withdrew all murder charges against him at the commencement of the trial.
In 2016, relatives of the deceased had written to the DPP requesting the withdrawal of charges against Baguma, citing the support he had extended to the family, including facilitating meetings with the then Inspector General of Police, Kale Kayihura.
