'Our relationship was based on money' Tonku
Jun 22, 2011
TOM Nkurungira (Tonku) yesterday told the High Court in his defence that his relationship with the late Brenda Karamuzi hinged on money.
By Hillary Nsambu and Edward Anyoli
TOM Nkurungira (Tonku) yesterday told the High Court in his defence that his relationship with the late Brenda Karamuzi hinged on money.
“Our relationship was of convenience and compromise because I could not go to her place unless she called me and whenever she called me, it was about her financial problems,†Nkurungira told court. Verbatim click here
Nkurungira, who was being cross-examined by the senior principal state attorney, Joan Kagezi, said: “Brenda had financial problems and her friends had not been helpful to her. I was always her last resort.â€
Quizzed about the two days he did not sleep in his house and on return broke the latch that the landlord had put on the door, Nkurungira said he feared confrontation with his landlord despite the fact that he was an understanding man.
When the trial judge, Justice Albert Rugadya-Atwooki, asked Nkurungira whether apart from him and his co-accused there was any other person with access to his house, he said none.
Nkurungira and Ssempijja, his houseboy, are jointly accused of murdering Karamuzi from January 21 to 30 at Kijjwa, Bukasa, a Kampala suburb. Her body was found in a septic tank in Tonku’s compound by a fumigator.
Yesterday, Nkurungira told the court that because of the frosty relationship that existed between them, he last had sex with Karamuzi a month before her death. He added that he last saw her alive on January 22, 2010 and not 21.
When asked why he had told the Police that he last saw Karsamuzi on January 21, 2010, yet he now insists he last saw her on January 22, 2010, Nkurungira said it was a mistake because he was in disarray and was tired having spent a lot of time in custody. He added that his statement was recorded late at night.
He narrated that on January 18, Brenda visited him and slept in the visitors’ room. “The next day, I left the house without talking to her. I did not want to disturb her because I respect people’s privacy and she had earlier told me she had financial problems,†Nkurungira said.
When asked why he used to go in and out of his house without talking to the person he had referred to as intimate, Nkurungira said Karamuzi’s lifestyle was unstable.
TOM Nkurungira (Tonku) yesterday told the High Court in his defence that his relationship with the late Brenda Karamuzi hinged on money.
“Our relationship was of convenience and compromise because I could not go to her place unless she called me and whenever she called me, it was about her financial problems,†Nkurungira told court. Verbatim click here
Nkurungira, who was being cross-examined by the senior principal state attorney, Joan Kagezi, said: “Brenda had financial problems and her friends had not been helpful to her. I was always her last resort.â€
Quizzed about the two days he did not sleep in his house and on return broke the latch that the landlord had put on the door, Nkurungira said he feared confrontation with his landlord despite the fact that he was an understanding man.
When the trial judge, Justice Albert Rugadya-Atwooki, asked Nkurungira whether apart from him and his co-accused there was any other person with access to his house, he said none.
Nkurungira and Ssempijja, his houseboy, are jointly accused of murdering Karamuzi from January 21 to 30 at Kijjwa, Bukasa, a Kampala suburb. Her body was found in a septic tank in Tonku’s compound by a fumigator.
Yesterday, Nkurungira told the court that because of the frosty relationship that existed between them, he last had sex with Karamuzi a month before her death. He added that he last saw her alive on January 22, 2010 and not 21.
When asked why he had told the Police that he last saw Karsamuzi on January 21, 2010, yet he now insists he last saw her on January 22, 2010, Nkurungira said it was a mistake because he was in disarray and was tired having spent a lot of time in custody. He added that his statement was recorded late at night.
He narrated that on January 18, Brenda visited him and slept in the visitors’ room. “The next day, I left the house without talking to her. I did not want to disturb her because I respect people’s privacy and she had earlier told me she had financial problems,†Nkurungira said.
When asked why he used to go in and out of his house without talking to the person he had referred to as intimate, Nkurungira said Karamuzi’s lifestyle was unstable.