In a landmark ruling delivered on Wednesday, the Supreme Court has ruled that civil courts lack jurisdiction to hear appeals filed by soldiers tried and convicted by military courts.

The unanimous ruling was delivered by a panel of five justices led by Professor Lillian Tibatemwa, in a case involving Lieutenant Ambrose Ogwang, a Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) soldier convicted of murder by a Court Martial.

The ruling follows a long legal battle initiated by Lt. Ogwang, who sought to overturn his conviction and life sentence, arguing that the punishment was harsh and excessive. His case traces back to May 23, 2010, when he robbed a shop at gunpoint along Kumi Road in Mbale City.

During a police pursuit, he shot and killed Inspector of Police George William Koire using an SMG rifle while trying to evade arrest.

Lt. Ogwang was subsequently tried and convicted of murder by the UPDF 3rd Divisional Court Martial in Mbale, which handed him the death penalty. Dissatisfied with the verdict, he appealed to the General Court Martial, which reduced his sentence to life imprisonment. A further appeal to the Court Martial Appeals Court upheld the life sentence.

In an unusual twist, Ogwang turned to the Court of Appeal, arguing that his case should have been tried in the High Court since the offence was committed while he was off duty as a soldier. The Court of Appeal sided with him, quashed his conviction and sentence, and ordered that he be tried in the High Court as a civilian.

Following this decision, Ogwang was re-indicted by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and tried in the High Court for murder and robbery. He was convicted and sentenced to 29 years in prison. Unsatisfied with this outcome, he returned to the Court of Appeal and later escalated the matter to the Supreme Court.

In its ruling, the Supreme Court declared that the Court of Appeal had no authority to entertain appeals originating from the Court Martial Appeals Court. The justices criticized the Court of Appeal’s decision, quashed it, and reinstated the life sentence handed down by the military tribunal.

This decision firmly establishes that military courts retain exclusive jurisdiction over cases involving soldiers convicted by Court Martial, marking a significant precedent in the interplay between military and civil judicial systems in Uganda.