The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The trial of Molly Katanga for the alleged murder of her husband businessman Henry Katanga resumed on Thursday morning with the testimony of the ninth prosecution witness, Naomi Nyangweso, a sister to the deceased.
Nyangweso revealed that before his death, Katanga had asked her to meet with him and his lawyer to discuss making a will, citing concerns about his safety. “He told me Molly was very dangerous and that’s why he didn’t use his vehicle. He also warned me not to call him frequently because his phone was being tapped,” said Nyangweso.
According to Nyangweso’s testimony, the deceased Katanga told her he wanted to make a will and when she asked him what the problem was, he said he would inform her in front of the lawyer and that they were to meet after Patricia’s wedding, which occurred a few days before the murder.
This testimony followed the cross-examination of the Director of Forensics in the Uganda Police Force, Andrew Kizimura Mubiru.
He has been in court for a full month for cross-examination over his findings related to the DNA samples he picked from the scene of the crime, which pinned the widow and her two daughters for having touched the killer’s pistol. Molly is jointly accused with her two daughters, Patricia Kankwanzi and Martha Nkwanzi, who are specifically charged with destroying and tampering with the murder scene to conceal valuable evidence.
The family’s shamba boy, George Amanyire, and a nursing officer, Charles Otai, are also jointly charged with being an accessory after the fact of murder. As a result, in her testimony on Thursday, a 65-year-old resident of Bugolobi, Nyangweso testified before the Criminal Division Judge Isaac Muwata about the events surrounding the murder of her brother Katanga.
Nyangweso, who described Katanga as a peaceful person, said she had an appointment with him on the day of his murder, November 2, 2023, at 10 am. However, before their meeting, she said she received a disturbing call from George Amanyire, Katanga’s former house helper who is one of the accused persons, saying that Katanga was dead.
“Amanyire told me he first heard a scuffle inside Katanga’s house and that they were fighting. He switched off his phone before I could ask more questions,” said Nyangweso. She narrated that, immediately she contacted Katanga’s daughter, Patricia Kakwanzi, who was on her way to their home. She also informed her son, Timothy Nyangweso, about the incident.
Upon arriving at Katanga’s residence, Nyangweso told the Judge that she found many people, including security personnel, and was initially barred from entering the house. However, after explaining her relationship with the deceased Katanga, she was allowed to enter and found his naked body lying on a new small mattress covered with bedsheets.
“Amanyire claimed he didn’t know what happened but said he was washing the car when he heard the couple fighting,” Nyangweso said. The court also heard that Katanga had expressed fear for his life due to his troubled relationship with his wife, Molly Katanga.
It was Nyangweso’s testimony also that, after the wedding of Patricia on Saturday, they met in Katanga’s office located on Nkrumah Road.
She added that the deceased gave her 100,000 shillings to buy a new phone and a sim card and told her not to call him on his phone. While in the office, Nyangweso states that she was given a safe containing documents such as copies of land titles, bank accounts, people who owed him money because Katanga was a money lender, a title for his farm, and documents of plots of land, among others.
The meeting with the lawyer, however, didn’t take place because they were supposed to meet on the day Katanga was murdered. She also didn’t get to understand what was in the will. Upon cross-examination, the lawyers representing the accused persons led by Peter Kabatsi asked for the documents in the safe and photographs.
Kabatsi said they are mandated to disclose documents that they are going to use as evidence.
They also asked for a list of those documents. In response, the Prosecution said that the defense lawyers were asking for documents that were Katanga’s documents and not even for the witness. Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Samalie Wakooli said it is for that reason that they have not even relied on them in proving their case against the accused persons.
Wakooli said they are not even in their possession and that Nyangweso is not the owner of those documents. She prayed that the defense lawyers be overruled. Justice Muwata directed the Prosecution to provide a list of those documents that were in the safe, but the Prosecution said they were going to generate it and come with it in the next session.
The matter has been adjourned to October 8, 2024, for cross-examination. It’s alleged that on November 2, 2023, at Mbuya, Chwa II, in Nakawa Division, Kampala, with malice aforethought, Molly shot dead her husband, Henry Katanga. The Defense lawyers Elison Karuhanga, Macdusman Kabega, Bruce Musinguzi, John Jet Tumwebaze, and Peter Kabatsi represent all the accused persons.
