Written By | Peter Luzinda
Wellen Kukundakwe, who operates at Rwamabondo trading centre in Ntungamo District, was handed the lengthy jail term on Monday by High Court Judge Lawrence Tweyanze Karikwisya
Search
Ntungamo
A 45-year-old metal fabricator has been sentenced to 50 years in prison after being convicted of repeatedly defiling his biological seven-year-old daughter.
Wellen Kukundakwe, who operates at Rwamabondo trading centre in Ntungamo District, was handed the lengthy jail term on Monday by High Court Judge Lawrence Tweyanze Karikwisya.
The court heard that the offences occurred in November 2022 after the girl’s mother left the family home following a domestic disagreement, leaving the young child in her father’s care.
The victim, now 10 years old, testified that Kukundakwe called her to his bed on multiple occasions and defiled her as many as 10 times. She later confided in a neighbour, identified as Tumwesigye, who reported the matter to police and ensured the child received medical attention.
Kukundakwe was arrested and charged with aggravated defilement shortly after the report.
While delivering the sentence, Justice Tweyanze strongly condemned the crime, describing it as a grave betrayal of parental duty.
“What Kukundakwe did could only be done by an animal and not a human being,” the judge said. “If he can do this to his own daughter multiple times, one can only imagine what he is capable of doing to other people’s children.”
The defence had pleaded for a lighter sentence, citing that Kukundakwe is a father to other children and had already spent considerable time on remand. However, the judge ruled that the aggravating factors far outweighed any mitigating circumstances.
After deducting the approximately three years Kukundakwe spent in prison while awaiting trial, he will serve an effective sentence of 46 years, three months, and 20 days.
The case has once again highlighted the heightened vulnerability of children — especially girls — when left in the care of relatives amid domestic conflicts. Defilement cases involving close family members remain a disturbing trend across Uganda.
Torch Media Africa
