The High court in Soroti has convicted two directors of Jozan Nursery and Primary School, Suzan Vivian Ariokot and Joseph Okedi, and police officer John Bosco Obotol for the murder of six-year-old pupil Joan Faith Apio.Apio was found dead with her throat slit in the school latrine on February 5, 2025. Six people were charged in connection with the murder, but in a judgment delivered today Thursday, Soroti High court resident judge Boniface Wamala acquitted three, including the headteacher James Edoket, school cook Valentine Opio and matron Osula Adong after finding that the prosecution had failed to present sufficient evidence linking them to the killing.Justice Wamala said the prosecution had called 11 witnesses whose evidence was considered against all six accused persons. However, after analysing the evidence, the court found no sufficient link between Edoket, Opio and Adong and the murder.On Edoket, the judge said the evidence showed that his involvement on the day of the incident was limited to helping retrieve Apio from the locked latrine and taking her to Soroti Regional Referral Hospital.“The prosecution’s evidence stated that Edoket was charged due to his participation in breaking the latrine padlock where Apio was found and taking her body to the hospital,” Justice Wamala said.Edoket had told court that he was at school on the day of the incident helping the school bursar when he was alerted about what had happened. He said he ran with Okedi carrying an iron bar, which was used to break the latrine padlock.Suzan Vivian Ariokot Okedi was found guiltyJustice Wamala said Edoket, Okedi and Adong also assisted in taking Apio to hospital before Edoket was arrested.“It is clear from the prosecution’s evidence that Edoket had no role or plan in the execution of the deceased’s murder. There is no evidence that he was part of forming common intentions. Therefore, Edoket is not linked to the murder of Apio either directly or with common intentions,” the judge ruled.On Opio, Justice Wamala said the prosecution’s case largely relied on Ariokot’s claim that the school cook had information that could help investigators establish how Apio was killed.However, the judge said no such evidence was produced by either the police or Ariokot. The court heard that when the school was temporarily closed after the incident, Ariokot instructed Opio to take her daughter home. He did so and was paid as a boda boda rider.Opio told court that he worked as a school cook but also operated a boda boda. On the day Apio was killed, he worked at the school until about 2 pm as usual before leaving to continue with his boda boda business.He said he returned to the school at about 11 pm after learning of the incident, where he met a security guard who informed him that Apio’s body had been found in the latrine. He was subsequently taken to the hospital.Justice Wamala said there was no material evidence connecting Opio to the murder. The judge also dismissed the case against Adong, whose alleged involvement centred on the knife suspected to have been used in Apio’s murder.Prosecution alleged that Adong, the school matron, sold the knife to a juvenile who later took it to Ariokot. However, Justice Wamala said the evidence showed that the juvenile claimed to have paid Adong Shs 1,000 for the knife, while Adong maintained that it cost Shs 2,000.The juvenile reportedly told Adong that she had been sent by the director’s wife, after which Adong laughed and handed over the knife. The court further heard that the knife had been brought to the school canteen by Okedi without Adong’s knowledge.Justice Wamala noted that Adong had only recently joined the school and had worked there for one week and eight days at the time of the incident. He said the knives were not among the items Adong had been instructed to purchase for the canteen.Her explanation that she laughed because of other pupils who were present when she handed over the knife was also not challenged by the prosecution.“In any circumstances, Osula has not been linked by any evidence to the killing of Apio either directly or by common intention. Her participation in the murder of Apio has not been proved beyond reasonable doubt,” Justice Wamala ruled.The judge consequently found that the prosecution had failed to establish the ingredients of murder against Edoket, Opio and Adong.“In agreement with the opinion from the court assessors, I find Ariokot, Okedi and Obotol guilty of the offence of murder and I convict each accordingly,” Justice Wamala said.Defence lawyers Francis Ajuun and Joseph Odong asked the court to exercise leniency when sentencing the convicts.“Court should discharge justice even if the heavens fall,” Ajuun pleaded.Prosecutors, meanwhile, asked the court to adjourn the proceedings to allow them time to analyse the judgment and make appropriate submissions before sentencing.The post Soroti school directors found guilty in 6-year-old pupil’s murder as court acquits headteacher, matron appeared first on The Observer Media Ltd.