Ssebuufu’s conviction dates back to 2015, when he was found guilty of the murder of businesswoman Betty Donah Katusabe.
In a move that has stirred renewed public debate, President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has pardoned jailed businessman Muhammad Ssebuufu, bringing a dramatic turn to a case that has lingered in Uganda’s collective memory for more than a decade.
The pardon was confirmed by Frank Baine, spokesperson for the Uganda Prison Service. Baine said the release is contained in the President’s official communiqué dated February 21, 2026, formally granting Ssebuufu clemency.
Ssebuufu’s conviction dates back to 2015, when he was found guilty of the murder of businesswoman Betty Donah Katusabe. The case gripped the nation at the time, drawing intense public scrutiny and emotional reactions. Court proceedings painted a grim picture of betrayal and violence, ultimately leading to a lengthy prison sentence for the businessman.
For years, Ssebuufu remained behind bars, his name synonymous with one of the country’s most shocking criminal cases. Appeals and legal maneuvers failed to overturn the conviction, and the case gradually receded from the headlines — though not from the memories of many Ugandans.
The presidential pardon now reopens old wounds and rekindles conversations about justice, mercy, and the limits of executive power. Under Ugandan law, the president has the constitutional authority to grant clemency to convicted individuals, a power often exercised on humanitarian grounds or in the interest of reconciliation.
As news of the pardon spreads, reactions are expected to be mixed. For some, it represents an act of mercy and the possibility of redemption. For others, particularly those who remember the brutal loss of Katusabe, it may feel like an unsettling reversal in a case they believed had been firmly resolved.
With Ssebuufu set to regain his freedom, the story that began in tragedy more than ten years ago enters a new and uncertain chapter — one shaped not by courtroom verdicts, but by executive grace.
