The unanswered questions in death of Honorary Consul's kid

KAMPALA - A team of detectives, forensic experts and family members gathered at a half-finished storeyed house in Mutungo zone 8, Nakawa division, on the morning of Monday, April 7, 2025, to reconstruct the events surrounding the suspicious death of two-and-a-half-year-old Rugari Nganwa. 

Nganwa was the son of Chris Rugari, a businessman and honorary consul of Zimbabwe to Uganda and Joline Kanoheri Rugari, who is now in Police custody for allegedly killing her child. 

Led by officers from Kampala Metropolitan Police East, the team sought to verify the account given by the child’s mother, Dusabe, who claims her son fell through the window on the first floor of their two-storey house on April 1. 

Kanoheri, who had initially been released on Police bond, was rearrested following fresh forensic revelations that contradicted her original statement. 

Her return to the house, this time accompanied by Police, lawyers and family members from both sides, was for a detailed scene-of-crime reconstruction.

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Inside the reconstruction 

The exercise, which began at 10:00am and ended at around 3:00pm, involved retracing the movements and actions taken by the suspect during the hours leading up to the child’s death on April 1. 

According to investigators, the objective was to physically examine how the child could have accessed the window, assess the trajectory of the alleged fall and determine whether the injuries found on the body were consistent with the incident as described. 

“We wanted the suspect to explain exactly how it all happened on the fateful day,” a source close to the investigation told New Vision. 

At the scene, investigators asked several questions: 

• How could the child have reached the window? What position would he have fallen from? 

• How did the baby get that far from the window in the compound? 

Though official findings from the reconstruction exercise have not yet been released, sources said Kanoheri’s demonstration of how the baby fell raised fresh contradictions and generated new leads.

Why scene reconstruction 

The reconstruction was prompted by what Police have termed “growing inconsistencies” in Kanoheri’s account and findings from the child’s post-mortem report. 

Kanoheri had initially told Police that her son fell through an open window on the first floor at about 8:30pm on April 1. 

She said she quickly rushed him to Kitintale Hospital, where medics examined the child, prescribed painkillers, and recommended a CT (computerised tomography) scan. 

However, since the child appeared stable, they returned home. Kanoheri reportedly added that the following morning — April 2 — she found the child breathing heavily and with a high fever, prompting another visit to the hospital, where the child was pronounced dead on arrival. However, post-mortem results contradicted this sequence of events. 

Investigators found no external injuries on the child’s body — no swelling, no scratches, no bleeding — despite claims he had fallen from a height of over five metres. 
Instead, the child had sustained internal injuries that were not consistent with a simple fall. 

On Sunday, Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson Patrick Onyango confirmed that an inquiry into the child’s death had been opened by Jinja Road Police after the child’s father disputed the mother’s account. 

He confirmed that Kanoheri had been detained to assist with ongoing investigations, adding that a scene-of-crime reconstruction was one of several steps being taken to determine the truth. 

The housemaid also remained in Police custody at Jinja Road Police Station. The murder probe and charges come at a time when Rugari has filed for divorce, doubting the paternity of the five children he reportedly had with Kanoheri. 

This followed DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) tests conducted on three of the children, which revealed that he was the biological father of only one — the other two were not his. Despite a 4.1% decrease in overall crime — from 228,074 cases in 2023 to 218,715 in 2024 — child-related crimes remain a major concern. 

Police recorded 9,408 cases involving children as direct victims in 2024, with 862 of these cases making it to court. A total of 10,741 cases were reported in 2023.

Window bolts out of reach 

Rugari’s relatives who visited the home before Police carried out the scene-of-crime reconstruction described Dusabe’s account as “inconsistent with an accidental fall.” 

They said the bolts on the window in question were far above the height of a toddler. 

“For a child that age to unlock and open that window, he would need help — or an object to climb on,” one of the relatives said. 

They also questioned how the child’s body ended up in the middle of the compound, far from the window, suggesting the possibility that the child was thrown or moved after sustaining injuries.