School director, two others convicted over Jozan pupil murder
A High Court in Soroti, Uganda, has convicted three individuals, including a school director and a police detective, for the murder of a five-year-old student. Three other school staff members were acquitted due to insufficient evidence.
Why it matters
The case highlights issues of child safety in educational institutions and the involvement of authority figures in criminal activities.
The convicts being led to the courtroom. PHOTO/SUZAN NANJALA
The High Court in Soroti has convicted three people over the murder of Joan Faith Apio, a five-year-old Primary One pupil of Jozan Nursery and Primary School, who was killed and dumped in a pit latrine in February 2025.
Justice Boniface Wamala, the resident judge, convicted Ms Suzan Vivian Ariokot Okedi, Mr Joseph Okedi, the school director, and Mr John Bosco Obotol, a detective police constable attached to Madera Police Post, after finding that the prosecution had proved their participation in the murder.
The court, however, acquitted three other accused persons—Mr James Edoket, the head teacher of the nursery section, Mr Valentine Opio, the school cook, and Ms Osula Apio, a canteen attendant and school matron—after finding that the prosecution had failed to prove their participation in the offence.
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