7 arrested over ritual murder of six-year-old boy
Jul 22, 2009
THE Police in Jinja have arrested seven people, including three witchdoctors, who are said to have connived and beheaded a six-year-old boy at Nakibizi, Mukono district.
By Donald Kiirya
THE Police in Jinja have arrested seven people, including three witchdoctors, who are said to have connived and beheaded a six-year-old boy at Nakibizi, Mukono district.
The seven suspects were arrested after the Police and the Rapid Response Unit (RRU) carried out an operation following the murder of the boy.
Moses Kimbowa, Muzamiru Mukalazi and Anthony Ssendikadiwa Mulangira, all witchdoctors and residents of Namwezi village, were arrested on Monday evening.
The boy was beheaded a week ago and his body found in a cassava plantation near his grandmother’s home in Njeru Town Council.
Zurah Ganyana, the Police spokesperson for the south- eastern region, said the Police also arrested Masitulah Nassali, James Muwanga, Marriam Mauliddi and Ivan Nyombi.
Kimbowa was found with a human bone in his shrine when he was picked from his house on Monday, according to the Police.
The witchdoctor reportedly confessed that he had so far killed four people and buried them in the compound near his four shrines.
“Kimbowa and Muzamiru are the prime suspects in this case and are suspected to have beheaded the boy based on the information we have so far,†Ganyana said.
She said Muzamiru lured the boy with a sh100 coin and took him to Kimbowa, who cut off his head. Muzamiru, she added, turned himself in at Nakibizi Police post after residents threatened to lynch him, accusing him of killing the boy.
Namwezi residents attacked Muzamiru’s house and slashed down his banana and yam plantations.
They also demolished his six shrines and set them ablaze.
On Friday morning, the Police and CID officers led by the officer in charge of Nakibizi Police post, Latif Nsubuga, searched Kimbowa’s residence and dug out three graves.
They found herbs wrapped in a barkcloth while others were in a polythene bag.
With the help of Abdu Kakooza, a resident of Namwezi, they also dug up the middle of two shrines that belonged to Kimbowa and found two skulls of children and two of dogs.
The four skulls were taken by the Police. The force battled with angry residents who were demolishing the houses.
Joan Akulo, a resident, said: “I was outside my house when I saw a house being set on fire while several villagers were shouting on top of their voices.â€
Joseph Mayanja, the LCI chairperson of Namwezi, said Kimbowa settled in the village as a photographer six years ago but later became a witchdoctor.
When the Police left the area, residents burnt over 17 shrines and homes of other witchdoctors in Lugazi II, Mbiko, Namwezi and Nakibizi villages.
The Military Police from Jinja was called in to quell the violence.
Several ritual murders, largely blamed on witchdoctors, have rocked the country over the last two years.
On Friday, the Southern Sudan government ordered the expulsion of all Ugandan witchdoctors operating there, accusing them of conning and misleading patients. After learning of the expulsion order, angry Sudanese reportedly destroyed shrines of the witchdoctors and set their fetishes on fire.
THE Police in Jinja have arrested seven people, including three witchdoctors, who are said to have connived and beheaded a six-year-old boy at Nakibizi, Mukono district.
The seven suspects were arrested after the Police and the Rapid Response Unit (RRU) carried out an operation following the murder of the boy.
Moses Kimbowa, Muzamiru Mukalazi and Anthony Ssendikadiwa Mulangira, all witchdoctors and residents of Namwezi village, were arrested on Monday evening.
The boy was beheaded a week ago and his body found in a cassava plantation near his grandmother’s home in Njeru Town Council.
Zurah Ganyana, the Police spokesperson for the south- eastern region, said the Police also arrested Masitulah Nassali, James Muwanga, Marriam Mauliddi and Ivan Nyombi.
Kimbowa was found with a human bone in his shrine when he was picked from his house on Monday, according to the Police.
The witchdoctor reportedly confessed that he had so far killed four people and buried them in the compound near his four shrines.
“Kimbowa and Muzamiru are the prime suspects in this case and are suspected to have beheaded the boy based on the information we have so far,†Ganyana said.
She said Muzamiru lured the boy with a sh100 coin and took him to Kimbowa, who cut off his head. Muzamiru, she added, turned himself in at Nakibizi Police post after residents threatened to lynch him, accusing him of killing the boy.
Namwezi residents attacked Muzamiru’s house and slashed down his banana and yam plantations.
They also demolished his six shrines and set them ablaze.
On Friday morning, the Police and CID officers led by the officer in charge of Nakibizi Police post, Latif Nsubuga, searched Kimbowa’s residence and dug out three graves.
They found herbs wrapped in a barkcloth while others were in a polythene bag.
With the help of Abdu Kakooza, a resident of Namwezi, they also dug up the middle of two shrines that belonged to Kimbowa and found two skulls of children and two of dogs.
The four skulls were taken by the Police. The force battled with angry residents who were demolishing the houses.
Joan Akulo, a resident, said: “I was outside my house when I saw a house being set on fire while several villagers were shouting on top of their voices.â€
Joseph Mayanja, the LCI chairperson of Namwezi, said Kimbowa settled in the village as a photographer six years ago but later became a witchdoctor.
When the Police left the area, residents burnt over 17 shrines and homes of other witchdoctors in Lugazi II, Mbiko, Namwezi and Nakibizi villages.
The Military Police from Jinja was called in to quell the violence.
Several ritual murders, largely blamed on witchdoctors, have rocked the country over the last two years.
On Friday, the Southern Sudan government ordered the expulsion of all Ugandan witchdoctors operating there, accusing them of conning and misleading patients. After learning of the expulsion order, angry Sudanese reportedly destroyed shrines of the witchdoctors and set their fetishes on fire.