Budaka police investigate overnight death of suspect held in custody
The deceased, David Gawaya, a peasant resident of Namajja 1 Cell, Naboa ward, Naboa town council, was found lying dead on the cell floor on July 18, 2026.
Budaka police investigate overnight death of suspect held in custody
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A 54-year-old man has died while in police custody at Naboa Town Council Police Station in Budaka district, just hours after he was detained over a case of threatening violence, police have confirmed.
The deceased, David Gawaya, a peasant resident of Namajja 1 Cell, Naboa ward, Naboa town council, was found lying dead on the cell floor on July 18, 2026.
The incident has since been registered as a case of sudden death vide SD REF 12/18/07/26 and CRR 023/2026 of Naboa Town Council Police Station.
According to the police report, the incident occurred at about 6:30 am on Saturday, when a cells guard, Probationer Police Constable Jacob Mulogo, went to check on suspects in custody and found Gawaya motionless on the floor of the cell.
How Gawaya ended up in custody
Police records indicate that Gawaya had been detained the previous day, July 17, at around 3:49 pm, after being escorted to the police station by Jannat Namatende, the complainant in the matter, her husband Moses Higenyi, and Kyogola, the vice chairperson of Namajja 1 cell, who was accompanied by a local defence secretary.
According to the account given to police, the vice chairperson and the defence secretary said the LC1 chairperson of Namajja 1 cell had directed them to escort Gawaya to police for allegedly threatening to injure them with a panga.
The trio told police they had gone to Gawaya's home to follow up on sh500,000 he had allegedly obtained from Namatende by false pretences. Upon their arrival, Gawaya reportedly went into his house and returned armed with a panga, threatening to cut them, before the group overpowered him and took him to police.
Investigations launched
Following the discovery of his body the next morning, police said statements had so far been recorded from the reporting officer, the other suspect who was held in custody alongside Gawaya, as well as the cells guards and police officers who were on both the day and night shifts at the station.
The scene was visited by the officer in charge of Budaka Central Police Station, John Kamulari, together with a scene-of-crime officer and a detective team from Budaka Central Police Station.
Gawaya's body has since been taken to Mbale Regional Referral Hospital for a postmortem examination to help establish the exact cause of death.
Police said further investigations are ongoing to ascertain the circumstances surrounding the death.