KAMPALA–KCCA court has Thursday sentenced six men to 8 months in Luzira prison for spraying harmful chemicals on meat and fish.
While sentencing the six, the presiding Grade One magistrate Beatrice Khainza ruled that their actions put the lives of innocent members of the public in danger and therefore deserved a long custodial sentence to deter other would be offenders.
That convicted include Erias Kafumba, Isa Ssenoga, Isma Mutebi, Umar Kalyango, Baker Mulondo and Ibrahim Ssekitto who pleaded guilty to the offense of causing a nuisance by spraying harmful chemicals on the meat and fish that they sell to the public.
The six were arrested last week in areas of Nakasero, Nankulabye and Ntinda Markets in an operation carried out by KCCA health and law enforcement officers on dirty butchers.
Initially, the sentence would have been yesterday but when the six returned to court, they requested to be reread the charges, a request, forcing the magistrate to adjourn the matter to today to rule on the request.
Though when court reconvened today, she declined to re-read the charges for the accused on grounds that the first time they appeared in court on Friday 5th, the charges were read in a language that they (suspects) told the court that they fully understand and even went ahead to negotiate for lenient sentences.
She thus went ahead to convict them.
However, the convicts were informed that they had 14 days to appeal against the sentence before the High court
