By Herbert Ssempogo

A TEENAGER held over the murder of Brenda Karamuzi, the woman whose body was found in a septic tank in a Kampala suburb, will testify against the key suspect, Tom Nkulungira.

Fred Ssempijja, 17, who was Nkulungira’s house help, was reportedly asked by his boss to wash bed sheets drenched in blood.

The boy had been arrested last weekend along with Nkulungira and his friend, Chris Bagaruka, in connection with the gruesome murder.

But the Police said they found no incriminating evidence against him and decided to use him as a witness.

CID deputy director Moses Sakira yesterday said the boy was under protection since he would assist the prosecution.

He did not name the place where Ssempijja was taken after he left the Rapid Response Unit (RRU) head office in Kireka, where he had initially been held.

At the RRU head office, a detention centre for hard-core criminals, Sakira said the Police were aware of the fact that he was a minor. “However, the facilities for juveniles are sometimes not adequate,” he pointed out.

The Children’s Act states that a minor should not be detained in the same place with adults.

“There is danger that a young person who interacts with criminals gets worse instead of reforming,” Haruna Mawa, the spokesperson for ANNPCAN, a child rights organisation, argued.

According to Mawa, there are hundreds of children detained with adults across the country. There are only six remand homes for minors in Uganda.

Meanwhile, Bagaruka, who helped to lure Nkulungira to a city Police station, is a free man. No evidence linking him to Karamuzi’s death was secured and he was consequently released.