Another taxi driver arrested over death of girlfriend

Luwero, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Police in Luwero town council have arrested a taxi driver over the death of his girlfriend.   The suspect has been identified as Joel Ssenyonga aged 40 years a resident of Mabbale village and taxi driver in Luwero town.

John Ojokuna the Luwero District Police Commander explains that Ssenyonga allegedly hosted Jalia Nantaba aged 38 years a resident of Kiwogozi zone on Wednesday night but she died under unclear circumstances.

Ojokuna adds that Ssenyonga contacted a fellow taxi driver to help him transport the body and dump it on the road to cover up the incident.  Ojokuna added that a concerned taxi driver tipped the Police who arrested Ssenyonga and detained him.

On Thursday, Policemen picked up the body from his house and transferred it to Luwero Hospital for postmortem to establish the actual cause of death.

Upon arrest, Ssenyonga told Policemen that she picked up Nantaba from a bar located at Kiwogozi zone and slept with her but she got an attack from an unknown illness at around 3; 00 am before she later died.

Ssenyonga denied killing Nantaba but admitted trying to cover up the death over the shock and fear of arrest.

Moses Kapo a neighbor says that the body was found lying on the floor but with no bruises or wounds.

Faridah Najjuma the Luwero District Female Councillor says that the neighbors saw Ssenyonga with the girlfriend seemingly unwell, before he locked the house and moved away.

Najjuma added that the residents thought that the girlfriend later got better and returned home only to see Policemen on Thursday telling them she was dead.

Najjuma asked the Police to investigate the matter thoroughly because this is the second woman to die in related circumstances.

On 18th May 2024 Marie Rose Nduwayesu aged 48 years a Rwandan National was found strangled to death at Kylne Guest House in Luwero town after she was killed by his lover Gerald Byamugisha.

It is alleged that Byamugisha booked a room at the Guest House together with the lover but at night they developed misunderstandings before he allegedly strangled her to death using a piece of cloth and left the body in the toilet.

The guest house attendant recovered the body in the morning when she had gone there for cleaning and Byamugisha had booked out.

According to the Police Crime report for 2023, Luwero district registered 90 cases of homicide and ranked with the highest cases across the country.

Luwero district also registered the highest cases of domestic violence after 534 cases were reported within the year.

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