Senior police officer Agasirwe to know bail fate today

KAMPALA - The High Court in Kampala is today (March 18, 2026) expected to rule on the bail application filed by Senior Superintendent of Police Nickson Agasirwe, who is accused of murdering Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Joan Kagezi.

Justice Isaac Muwata of the Criminal Division of the High Court will deliver the ruling.

The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions is represented by Chief State Attorney Richard Birivumbuka, while Agasirwe is represented by lawyer Michael Francis Akampukira.

In his bail application, Agasirwe states that he was arrested and charged with murder on June 16, 2025, at Nakawa Chief Magistrate’s Court and subsequently remanded to Luzira Maximum Security Prison. The court heard that the accused has been on remand for over 170 days without trial.

Akampukira argued that Agasirwe’s prolonged detention violates his constitutional rights to a fair and speedy trial, as well as the presumption of innocence.

In his submission, the defence lawyer stated that Agasirwe, 54, is of advanced age and qualifies for bail.

The lawyer also argued that Agasirwe has a fixed place of abode and substantial sureties who can guarantee his appearance in court whenever required for trial.

“It is only fair and just that this court exercises its discretion to grant Agasirwe bail,” Akampukira submitted.

Agasirwe presented three sureties, all family members: Aloysius Muhangi, 60; David Kureeba, 52; and Leeman Mugume, 46.

The defence informed the court that all necessary supporting documents had been filed to demonstrate that the sureties have fixed places of abode and the financial capacity to stand surety for the applicant.

Response

In response, Birivumbuka asked the court not to release Agasirwe on bail, arguing that he could interfere with investigations and witnesses, many of whom are junior police officers.

“The case involves organised criminal activity allegedly carried out with other suspects who are still at large,” he said. Birivumbuka added that releasing Agasirwe on bail would pose a risk to the trial process.

Birivumbuka submitted that under Section 15 of the Trial on Indictments Act and Paragraph 3 of the Constitutional (Bail Guidelines for Courts of Judicature) (Practice Directions), 2022, courts must consider several factors before granting bail, including the substantiality of sureties and the gravity of the offence.

He further argued that Agasirwe’s sureties are not substantial enough to warrant his release on bail.

The case

Agasirwe is battling murder charges alongside former Flying Squad Unit operative Abdul Noor Ssemujju, also known as Minaana. The offence carries a maximum sentence of death upon conviction.

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, a former commander of the disbanded Special Operations Unit, and Minaana, who describes himself as a peasant, are both facing murder charges. The offence of murder carries a maximum sentence of death upon conviction.

It is alleged that Agasirwe, Minaana and others still at large, on March 30, 2015, at Kiwatule in Nakawa Division, with malice aforethought, caused the death of Kagezi.

Agasirwe, Minana’s arrest

Agasirwe was arrested on May 21 last year after a convicted former Uganda Peoples Defence Forces soldier, Daniel Kiwanuka Kisekka, told the court that a senior government official named “Nixon” allegedly financed Kagezi’s murder.

The 43-year-old Kisekka was handed a 35-year prison sentence by the International Crimes Division of the High Court in Kampala after pleading guilty to the murder of Kagezi.

However, John Kibuuka, also known as Musa, John Massajjage, also known as Mubiru Brian, and Nasur Abdallah Mugonole, who are on remand in Luzira Prison, have denied killing Kagezi. They are on trial before a panel of four judges led by Michael Elubu.

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.