High Court Orders Six Accused in Soroti Pupil’s Murder to Defend Themselves

The High Court in Soroti has ruled that all six people accused of murdering Joan Faith Apio, a Primary One pupil at Jozan Nursery and Primary School, have a case to answer and must present their defence.

Justice Boniface Wamala made the ruling on Tuesday after finding that the prosecution had presented sufficient evidence requiring the accused to respond to the murder charges. Apio was found dead in the school’s latrine on February 5, 2025.

The accused are school directors Joseph Okedi and Suzan Vivian Ariokot Okedi, headteacher James Edoket, school cook Valentine Opio, school matron Osula Adong, and police officer John Bosco Obotol. All six have denied the charges.

In his ruling, Justice Wamala said the prosecution had established a prima facie case against the accused, noting that several facts and documents had already been agreed upon by the defence during the prosecution’s case. Justice Wamala gave the defence one day to prepare before opening its case.

He said the court would first hear sworn testimony from the accused before receiving evidence from their witnesses on a separate day. Joseph Odong, who represents Ariokot, Okedi, Edoket, Opio and Osula, told the court that his clients would give sworn testimony and intended to rely on witnesses and CCTV footage in their defence.

“My clients are still processing the CCTV footage, which we hope to submit to court once we are granted sufficient time to prepare all the necessary materials,” Odong said. He added that Ariokot intends to call two witnesses, Okedi one witness, while Edoket, Opio and Osula will not call any witnesses.

Counsel Muminu Magonu, representing Obotol, said his client would also testify under oath and plans to call four witnesses. He asked the court for additional time to review the prosecution’s submissions before opening the defence.

During the trial, the prosecution presented 11 witnesses in support of the murder case. Among them were two juveniles who pleaded guilty before Justice Wamala, were convicted and later discharged. The prosecution also tendered DNA evidence linking one of the juveniles to exhibits allegedly used in the murder.

Other evidence included police medical reports certifying that the accused are mentally fit to stand trial and a postmortem report prepared by two doctors indicating that Apio had missing muscle tissue around her neck.

The prosecution also asked the court to compel the defence to disclose the CCTV footage before relying on it in court, arguing that introducing it without prior disclosure would amount to trial by ambush.