KAMPALA: The High Court in Kampala has sentenced Haruna Kalyowa to 40 years in prison for defiling his 12-year-old biological daughter.
Justice David Matovu handed down the sentence after convicting Kalyowa of defilement, an offence the prosecution said was committed in 2021 at Sembule Zone, Kabowa Parish, in Kampala’s Rubaga Division.
Court heard that the victim was living with her father and stepmother at the time of the offence.
Senior State Attorney Carol Tabaro, who led the prosecution, told court that the girl’s stepmother had left home to take her baby for immunisation, leaving the victim with Kalyowa.
According to the prosecution, Kalyowa took advantage of her absence and sexually assaulted his daughter.
The assault was allegedly interrupted when the stepmother returned after realising she had forgotten the baby’s immunisation card. She reportedly found Kalyowa in the act.
Following the incident, Kalyowa moved to another residence within the same parish.
The girl later disclosed that her father had sexually abused her on more than four occasions.
In 2023, after resisting further advances from her father, the victim told a school friend about the abuse. The matter was subsequently brought to the attention of adults, including her biological mother.
Kalyowa was arrested in June 2023.
During the trial, he denied the charge and attributed the allegations to family wrangles.
The prosecution called seven witnesses, whose evidence the court found sufficient to establish Kalyowa’s guilt.
Justice Matovu subsequently convicted Kalyowa of defilement and sentenced him to 40 years’ imprisonment.
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions confirmed the conviction and sentence.
