Hunt for Aurien murder case witness hits snag

Sep 14, 2009

EFFORTS by the Police to trace the whereabouts of Christine Akello, the key witness in the Aurien murder case, have suffered a set-back due to the lack of persons to substantiate claims that she was picked by a policeman before she went missing.

By Steven Candia and John Omoding

EFFORTS by the Police to trace the whereabouts of Christine Akello, the key witness in the Aurien murder case, have suffered a set-back due to the lack of persons to substantiate claims that she was picked by a policeman before she went missing.

Christine Apolot, Akello’s sister, died on April 2008 after she was shot allegedly by her husband, James Peter Aurien, the former Mukono Police boss.

It is believed that Akello was at the scene of the crime.

“We have not yet found her but the search is still on,” Police spokesperson Judith Nabakooba said last week. “There is no one to substantiate the claims that she was picked by a policeman,” she added.

But Akebina Awoyo, Akello’s mother, in an interview during the weekend, said no Police officer had visited her since the disappearance of Akello.

Awoyo called on the Government, women activists and human rights organisations to help her establish the whereabouts of her daughter.

“I am in double jeopardy and going through continuous pain because of my missing daughter. She would be my consolation if she was with me,” Awoyo said.

Akello went missing a few days after her sister’s burial. Awoyo said she was picked from their home at Serere in Soroti district by David Mpangi, a relative of Aurien and has since gone missing.

“Mpangi came riding a motorcycle and took Akello from home,” she told Etop, The New Vision sister paper, in an interview.

Awoyo said Mpangi, a Police officer attached to Parliament and residing at Nsambya Police barracks, told her that Akello was his girlfriend.

Awoyo also said Mpangi first used another policeman, Joseph Alaku, to lure Akello from home.

She disclosed that Alaku returned Akello home on the insistence of Akello’s mother.

“It was then that Mpangi collected Akello and since then, the family has never seen her,” she added.

The Police earlier confirmed that Mpangi is a policeman.

Sources say Mpangi was arrested and detained but attempts to establish Akello’s whereabouts were futile, leading to Mpagi’s release.

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