Jjulunga’s murder suspect surrenders
Jun 23, 2009
VINCENT Baguma, a key suspect wanted by the Police in connection with the murder of FDC activist Tom Jjulunga, turned himself in on Saturday and was immediately arrested.
By Candia Steven, Darious Magara and Bernadette Manisula
VINCENT Baguma, a key suspect wanted by the Police in connection with the murder of FDC activist Tom Jjulunga, turned himself in on Saturday and was immediately arrested.
He, however, denied having a hand in the death of Jjulunga, who he said was his accomplice. Instead, he said, the two of them and another colleague, only identified as Waswa, were gunned down by the Police while on a robbery spree.
Baguma, a resident of Bunga, a Kampala suburb, is said to have turned himself in at the Criminal Investigations Directorate headquarters in the evening to clear his name.
He was immediately arrested and interrogated before recording a statement. “He said he had learnt that he was wanted as a key suspect in the murder and so he wanted to set the record straight,†Police spokesperson Judith Nabakooba said yesterday.
On Sunday, Baguma is said to have led a team of detectives investigating the murder to Kawempe, one of the city divisions, where the shooting and break-ins are said to have taken place on the fateful night. A team of operatives from the Police Rapid Response Unit was expected to revisit the division yesterday afternoon.
In his statement, according to the Police, Baguma narrated the events of that night which culminated in the shooting incident.
He recalled his horrendous experience of driving around with two colleagues who had been shot, one of them dead, and finally abandoning an injured Jjulunga near Rubaga Hospital.
He also told the Police about his relationship with Jjulunga which he said could be traced back to 2002, a seven-year period characterised by numerous incidents of crime, jointly orchestrated and executed.
Narrating the events in the run-up to the shooting incident that night, Baguma claimed that they came under heavy Police fire as they fled a scene of crime in a car after residents raised the alarm and a Police unit on patrol responded.
On that night, Baguma says he received a phone call from Jjulunga, who moments later arrived at his residence in Bunga with Waswa. They later hit the road to Kawempe on a burglary mission, using a saloon car.
Upon arrival, Baguma said they pulled off a number of burglaries before their luck ran out as they tried to break into one of the saloons. The owner raised the alarm and they were forced to flee.
It is then that the Police on patrol gave chase and opened fire at their speeding car from behind, but they managed to shake them off. In the incident, he said, Waswa died instantly while Jjulunga sustained a number of gunshot wounds.
“After getting away, he said he first dumped Waswa’s body and then proceeded towards Rubaga where he abandoned Jjulunga near the hospital,†Nabakooba said.
Baguma reportedly had agreed with Jjulunga to take him to Rubaga Hospital instead of Mulago, fearing that the Police would be on the look-out for anyone turning up with fresh gunshot wounds.
“Baguma claims they had agreed that if asked who brought him there, he should say it was a Good Samaritan and that Jjulunga had been stabbed,†the Police said.
It is then that Baguma drove off, leaving his friend near the hospital. The Jjulunga eventually ended up in Mulago Hospital after the guard at Rubaga turned him down and notified the Police.
In his statement to the Police, Baguma said his duty was to sell stolen property brought in by Jjulunga. He also talked of Jjulunga’s craftsmanship in forging keys, a skill which earned him the Swahili name Sungura (cunningness of a rabbit).
These master keys, he said, were used by Jjulunga in numerous thefts and break-ins, including the 2007 burglary into the Democratic Party offices in Kabusu in which several computers were stolen. The computers, he claimed, were then sold to one Henry, now a guard in Iraq.
That year, he said, they also robbed a micro-finance institution, from whose proceeds Jjulunga bought a plot of land in Kyengera at the outskirts of the city.
According to Baguma, Jjulunga moved from Bwaise to Bunga, another city suburb, after he had been nabbed by residents and detained at Kawempe Police station for stealing electronic appliances.
In 2005, Baguma told the Police, Jjulunga broke into a salon on Salaama Road in Makindye division and was arrested and detained at the RRU headquarters in Kireka.
He said Jjulunga’s activities stretched as far as Mbale where at one time they broke into an Internet Café and made off with computers. The computers were, however, seized from their accomplice, Sembazi, in a taxi on the way to Kampala.
VINCENT Baguma, a key suspect wanted by the Police in connection with the murder of FDC activist Tom Jjulunga, turned himself in on Saturday and was immediately arrested.
He, however, denied having a hand in the death of Jjulunga, who he said was his accomplice. Instead, he said, the two of them and another colleague, only identified as Waswa, were gunned down by the Police while on a robbery spree.
Baguma, a resident of Bunga, a Kampala suburb, is said to have turned himself in at the Criminal Investigations Directorate headquarters in the evening to clear his name.
He was immediately arrested and interrogated before recording a statement. “He said he had learnt that he was wanted as a key suspect in the murder and so he wanted to set the record straight,†Police spokesperson Judith Nabakooba said yesterday.
On Sunday, Baguma is said to have led a team of detectives investigating the murder to Kawempe, one of the city divisions, where the shooting and break-ins are said to have taken place on the fateful night. A team of operatives from the Police Rapid Response Unit was expected to revisit the division yesterday afternoon.
In his statement, according to the Police, Baguma narrated the events of that night which culminated in the shooting incident.
He recalled his horrendous experience of driving around with two colleagues who had been shot, one of them dead, and finally abandoning an injured Jjulunga near Rubaga Hospital.
He also told the Police about his relationship with Jjulunga which he said could be traced back to 2002, a seven-year period characterised by numerous incidents of crime, jointly orchestrated and executed.
Narrating the events in the run-up to the shooting incident that night, Baguma claimed that they came under heavy Police fire as they fled a scene of crime in a car after residents raised the alarm and a Police unit on patrol responded.
On that night, Baguma says he received a phone call from Jjulunga, who moments later arrived at his residence in Bunga with Waswa. They later hit the road to Kawempe on a burglary mission, using a saloon car.
Upon arrival, Baguma said they pulled off a number of burglaries before their luck ran out as they tried to break into one of the saloons. The owner raised the alarm and they were forced to flee.
It is then that the Police on patrol gave chase and opened fire at their speeding car from behind, but they managed to shake them off. In the incident, he said, Waswa died instantly while Jjulunga sustained a number of gunshot wounds.
“After getting away, he said he first dumped Waswa’s body and then proceeded towards Rubaga where he abandoned Jjulunga near the hospital,†Nabakooba said.
Baguma reportedly had agreed with Jjulunga to take him to Rubaga Hospital instead of Mulago, fearing that the Police would be on the look-out for anyone turning up with fresh gunshot wounds.
“Baguma claims they had agreed that if asked who brought him there, he should say it was a Good Samaritan and that Jjulunga had been stabbed,†the Police said.
It is then that Baguma drove off, leaving his friend near the hospital. The Jjulunga eventually ended up in Mulago Hospital after the guard at Rubaga turned him down and notified the Police.
In his statement to the Police, Baguma said his duty was to sell stolen property brought in by Jjulunga. He also talked of Jjulunga’s craftsmanship in forging keys, a skill which earned him the Swahili name Sungura (cunningness of a rabbit).
These master keys, he said, were used by Jjulunga in numerous thefts and break-ins, including the 2007 burglary into the Democratic Party offices in Kabusu in which several computers were stolen. The computers, he claimed, were then sold to one Henry, now a guard in Iraq.
That year, he said, they also robbed a micro-finance institution, from whose proceeds Jjulunga bought a plot of land in Kyengera at the outskirts of the city.
According to Baguma, Jjulunga moved from Bwaise to Bunga, another city suburb, after he had been nabbed by residents and detained at Kawempe Police station for stealing electronic appliances.
In 2005, Baguma told the Police, Jjulunga broke into a salon on Salaama Road in Makindye division and was arrested and detained at the RRU headquarters in Kireka.
He said Jjulunga’s activities stretched as far as Mbale where at one time they broke into an Internet Café and made off with computers. The computers were, however, seized from their accomplice, Sembazi, in a taxi on the way to Kampala.