The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The office of the Director of Public Prosecutions has informed the Nakawa Chief Magistrates Court that four suspects accused of murdering Senior Principal State Attorney Joan Kagezi Namazzi visited a Kayunga based witch doctor so as to perform rituals to evade arrest and also to “tie” the case proceedings shortly after the crime.
This was revealed in the summary of the evidence submitted before the Court on Wednesday by the Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Thomas Jatiko following completion of investigations which have been ongoing for about nine years now.
The four murder suspects are: Daniel Kisekka Kiwanuka, a peasant farmer and charcoal burner residing in Nsanvu village, Kitimbwa town council, Kayunga district, John Kibuuka, also known as Musa, an inmate at Kigo prison, Nasur Abdallah Mugonole and John Masajjage, also known as Mubiru Brian or alias Badru or Chongo, both inmates at Kitalya Mini Max prisons in Wakiso district.
Prosecution’s Jatiko has today tendered the evidence before the Court presided over by the Chief Magistrate Erias Kakooza who has now committed the accused persons to the International Crimes Division of the High Court for trial since he doesn’t have jurisdiction over the capital offences of murder and terrorism which the accused persons are facing.
The Court has heard that immediately after the murder on March 30th 2015, a postmortem report was done and found that Kagezi had died of gunshot wounds and she was later buried on April 2nd 2015 at Bukasa Village Buloba in Wakiso District.
While at the scene, Police recovered two bullet cartridges, motor vehicle registration number UG 0586J pick up double cabin, blood swabs, drew sketch maps, made reports and submitted them to the forensics Laboratory for analysis.
The evidence shows that in April 2015, police arrested Kibuuka from his home in Nabweru Kawempe Division in connection to Kagezi Murder and other crimes he was suspected to have committed. Kibuuka allegedly revealed to the residents and eye witnesses that he had participated in the murder with Masagajje and others.
Evidence shows that Kibuuka said that the killers’ guns were kept by Masagajje and they searched Kibuuka’s house and those who were present at the time of the search will be called to testify as Prosecution witnesses.
The evidence further shows that Masagajje lived near Kibuuka and he ran on the night his colleague was arrested and remained a fugitive for eight years until 2023 when he was equally apprehended.
According to the evidence read in open court, when they searched Masagajje ‘s house, they found photos of a lady who was a victim of another crime committed shortly after Kagezi Murder.
A motorcycle which no one in the area or neighborhood had seen Masagajje use or expected him to be having, a black jacket and helmet were recovered and further, that he boasted and revealed to his friends at different times that he participated in the murder of Kagezi with his co-accused.
According to Prosecution, Masagajje informed his co accused that the deal to murder Kagezi involved a lot of money and it was organized from the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo -DRC and the guns used too were from the DRC.
Court has heard that Masagajje revealed that they had been paid a deposit to execute the murder and they were demanding the balance.
“A3(Masagajje) complained that the deposit of the money he got was spent on a witch doctor to tie the case . Those that A3 revealed this information to will be called to testify as witnesses during the trial”, shows the evidence.
Evidence further indicates that Masagajje and Munogole disappeared and he (Masagajje) had abandoned his known residence and went to Buvuma islands where he disguised doing different jobs including shoe repairing and Boda Boda riding to avoid detection. Investigators reveal that Masagajje even changed his name to Brian Mubiru.
Records show that Masagajje run out of luck in August 2023 when he was arrested from Wandegeya doing his Boda Boda business, and after being questioned about the Kagezi murder and terrorism , he denied any knowledge.
The Court has heard that police investigations also established that Kibuuka and Munogole whom they had been looking for, for so long had been arrested, tried , convicted and imprisoned for different crimes they committed after murdering Kagezi and were serving sentences in different prisons in the country by August 2023.
According to investigations, Kisekka Kiwanuka had previously deserted the army and escaped with two guns and an unspecified quantity of ammunition.
He had also committed several armed robberies and murders jointly with his co-accused and he was prosecuted and convicted and released . According to records, Kisekka Kiwanuka then relocated to Kayunga District and lived a discreet life after the murder of Kagezi.
However, Court has heard that he was arrested in October 2023 in Luwero in connection with a case of theft of property and while in custody, it was discovered that he was the very person they have been looking for in relation to the murder of Kagezi.
Further, Kisekka Kiwanuka also after being arrested ,confessed to having participated in the murder saying the guns were brought by Kibuuka who paid each one of them 500,000 shillings.
The evidence further indicates that Kisekka Kiwanuka and Mugonole rode to the scene of crime as he (Kisekka ) was armed with guns and was to back up Kibuuka and Masagajje to clear the escape route after Kagezi Murder.
“He informed the investigators that after the murder, he fired one shot in the air to clear the way and both teams successfully escaped and returned to their hideouts in Nabweru,” the court has heard. “The group proceeded to Bunamwaya Kajansi and committed another murder and armed robbery.”
Afterwards, the group went to a witch doctor in Kayunga to perform some rituals on them to protect and prevent them from being arrested for the murder of Kagezi. The witchdoctor who was revealed to the investigators was during the time of these investigations found be on remand charged with committing a criminal offence.
However, after interrogation, the prosecutors say that the witch doctor also confessed and confirmed to having performed rituals on the group which he identified on police parade to be protected from being implicated in Kagezi’s murder.
The DPP has also informed the Court that the phones of the accused persons were being tracked and were analysed and found to have been in constant communication plotting the murder.
The DPP further states that during the trial, she will tender bullet heads, post mortem report, crime scene investigation reports, mobile network clusters and the technical report, cyber crime reports and forensic reports, charge and caution statements of the accused, call data printouts, DNA analysis reports, mobile telephones among others as evidence to incriminate the accused persons.
According to the Prosecution’s findings , the motive of killing Kagezi was for the purpose of influencing the government or intimidating the public or a section of the public for political, religious and economic aims. The DPP says that she will prove that the accused persons acted indiscriminately without due regard to the safety of others or property.
The Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Lino Anguzu who has signed the committal papers on behalf of the DPP says that the accused persons have no valid defense whatsoever and wants them to be convicted because they all acted with common intentions and in concert with each other and therefore they are culpable as such.
The committal papers have been read in open court with four suspects standing the dock and six prison wardens standing behind them. This tight security includes dozens of both armed prison wardens and counter terrorism officers that were in and outside the Court room.
The accused persons who were arrested eight years after the crime have now been taken back on remand until the High Court international Crimes Division ready to try them.
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