Suspect in Kirumira murder died before releasing killer gun

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Police spokesperson Fred Enanga has said that a suspect in the shooting of former Buyende district police commander Muhammad Kirumira, died before providing the killer gun to investigators.

Kirumira was killed alongside a female friend Resty Mbabazi Nalinnya near his home in Bulenga, Wakiso district on September 8, 2018. But one year after his death, the perpetrators have never been brought to book.

According to Enanga, the prime suspect Abdul Kateregga, was shot dead by the Chieftain of Military Intelligence – CMI personnel before releasing details of the gun that was used to end Kirumira’s life., Kateregga, 40, was shot while trying to escape from the hands of security operatives.

Enanga said that although Abubaker Kalungi and Hamza Mwebe, the other suspects in the shooting recorded extrajudicial statements confessing to the crime, they indicated that the weapon they used was hired from Kateregga and that it had been returned to him after the mission.

In the statements, Kalungi said he did the surveillance job on Kirumira while Mwebe pulled the trigger on a fateful day, to end Kirumira’s life. But Enanga acknowledges that the absence of the gun, a key exhibit in the matter, complicates the trial.

Kirumira rose through the ranks having started as a Police Constable until he reached the ASP status which is the starting rank of senior category in Uganda Police Force. His father Abubaker Kawooya, told journalists at his son’s memorial, that in Kirumira he lost a son, a brother and a friend.

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