A man has been sentenced to death by hanging in Uganda for the murder of four toddlers at a nursery school in the capital, Kampala.
The convict, Christopher Okello Onyum, 38, was found guilty of killing the children—Eteku Gideon, Keisha Agenorwoth, Sseruyange Ignatius, and Odeke Ryan—aged between one and two years, during an attack on 2 April at the Ggaba Early Childhood Development Program.
The ruling was delivered by Justice Alice Komuhangi Khauka at a makeshift High Court sitting within the affected community, where the killings occurred. The judge ordered the death sentence, stating that the convict acted with intent and showed no remorse.
“He targeted them in their defenceless state and went ahead to slaughter them like animals,” she said, adding that he displayed “no fear, no shame, no consideration for human life,” according to AFP reports.
Onyum, who holds Ugandan and US citizenship, has 14 days to appeal the judgment. Capital punishment remains legal in Uganda but is rarely enforced, with the last recorded execution taking place in 2005.
During the trial, prosecutors said Onyum admitted to the killings and described them as a “human sacrifice” intended to make him wealthy. However, he later pleaded not guilty, claiming he suffered from mental illness and lacked intent at the time of the attack.
The court rejected his insanity defence, with Justice Khauka ruling that he was “very sane” on the day of the incident.
Prosecutors presented evidence from 18 witnesses, including forensic, digital, and eyewitness accounts. Key evidence included DNA linking him to a kitchen knife, CCTV footage tracking his movements, and call data placing him at the scene.
Two daycare staff members also testified that they witnessed the attack on the toddlers.
The case has drawn widespread shock in Uganda, intensifying public concern over child safety and violent crime in early childhood institutions.
