News
Kagezi murder: court to rule on suspects' fate today
A panel of four judges, Andrew Bashaija, Duncan Gaswaga, Richard Wejuli Wabwire, and Joyce Kavuma, is expected to deliver the ruling.
State prosecutor Joan Kagezi was shot dead at about 7:15pm on March 30, 2015, in Kiwatule, a Kampala suburb, as she drove home with her children. (File photo)
By: Michael Odeng, Journalist @New Vision
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The International Crimes Division of the High Court convening in Kampala today (Friday, July 03) is expected to rule on whether three men accused of murdering state prosecutor Joan Kagezi have a case to answer.
The accused are John Kibuuka, also known as Musa, Nasur Abdallah Mugonole, and John Massajjage, also known as Mubiru Brian.
A panel of four judges, Andrew Bashaija, Duncan Gaswaga, Richard Wejuli Wabwire, and Joyce Kavuma, is expected to deliver the ruling.
If the court finds that the prosecution has failed to establish a prima facie case, the accused will be acquitted without being required to present a defence. If the judges find that there is sufficient evidence, the trial will proceed to the defence stage.
The three accused persons were battling the murder charges with the former Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces soldier Daniel Kiwanuka Kisekka, who has since pleaded guilty to the murder and is serving a 35-year sentence.
The court heard that at around 5:30pm, on the day of the murder, the assassins lay in wait. When Kagezi’s vehicle arrived, one suspect approached and fired multiple shots at close range before fleeing with his accomplices.
Kagezi was shot dead at about 7:15pm on March 30, 2015, in Kiwatule, a Kampala suburb, as she drove home with her children.
Agasirwe, Minana’s arrest
The three accused persons were battling the murder charges with the former Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces soldier Daniel Kiwanuka Kisekka, who has since pleaded guilty to the murder and is serving a 35-year sentence.
The court heard that at around 5:30pm, on the day of the murder, the assassins lay in wait. When Kagezi’s vehicle arrived, one suspect approached and fired multiple shots at close range before fleeing with his accomplices.
Kagezi was shot dead at about 7:15pm on March 30, 2015, in Kiwatule, a Kampala suburb, as she drove home with her children.
Agasirwe, Minana’s arrest
Agasirwe was arrested on May 21 last year after 43-year-old Kisekka told the court that a senior government official named “Nixon” allegedly financed Kagezi’s murder.
Meanwhile, Minaana, who was arrested in 2017 over the Kagezi murder and later released, was re-arrested on June 24 last year by Criminal Investigations Directorate detectives at his home in Galilaya, Kayunga district.
At the time of Kagezi’s killing, Minaana, who joined the Police in an unstructured setting in 2007, was a field operative with the Flying Squad and worked closely with Agasirwe.
Investigators also discovered that Minaana operated a garage about 600 metres from the crime scene, which sources allege may have served as a surveillance or planning point.
Earlier investigations conducted jointly by the then Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence, now known as Defence Intelligence and Security, the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the United Kingdom’s Scotland Yard flagged the suspicious presence of several known police operatives at the scene on the night Kagezi was killed.
Meanwhile, Minaana, who was arrested in 2017 over the Kagezi murder and later released, was re-arrested on June 24 last year by Criminal Investigations Directorate detectives at his home in Galilaya, Kayunga district.
At the time of Kagezi’s killing, Minaana, who joined the Police in an unstructured setting in 2007, was a field operative with the Flying Squad and worked closely with Agasirwe.
Investigators also discovered that Minaana operated a garage about 600 metres from the crime scene, which sources allege may have served as a surveillance or planning point.
Earlier investigations conducted jointly by the then Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence, now known as Defence Intelligence and Security, the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the United Kingdom’s Scotland Yard flagged the suspicious presence of several known police operatives at the scene on the night Kagezi was killed.