The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Jane Frances Abodo, has preferred charges of aggravated kidnap against an American couple, who are ordinarily residents in Kampala.
The couple, Mackenzie Leigh Mathias Spencer and Nicholas Spencer have been on remand for mistreating a 10-year-old child, who was one of the children in their care. According to the amended plaint or charge sheet, the couple reportedly adopted a 10-year-old boy, whom they then mistreated on grounds that he was obstinate.
The couple is also facing charges of Aggravated torture. Prosecution avers that Spencer aged 32 and his wife Mackenzie, a 32-year-old, volunteer, fostered three children, including Kayima John, in 2018, from Welcome Ministry, in Jinja City.
The suspects came to Uganda in 2017, and started working with Akola Project, based in Jinja. The couple joined the Motive Creation Agency, and moved with their children to Upper Naguru, where they have been staying together.
It was however, realised that between the year 2020 and December 2022, the couple constantly tortured Kayima John, a 10-year-old pupil of Dawn Children’s Center in Ntinda, which attracted the attention of neighbours.
The couple kept the victim barefoot, and naked throughout the day, would occasionally make him squat in an awkward position, with his head facing the floor and hands spread out widely, he spent his nights on a wooden platform, without a mattress or beddings and was served cold meals from the fridge.
The suspects came to Uganda in 2017, where Nicholas started working with AKOLA Project based in Jinja. In 2018, they fostered 3 children including the victim from Welcome Ministry – Jinja. They moved to Kampala when they joined Motive Creation Agency, with their three children.
