Who killed Akena?

Matthew Kanyamunyu and Cynthia Munwangari, the prime suspects in the shooting of Kenneth Akena on Saturday evening around Lugogo in Kampala, have spoken out.

The Kasese child protection specialist, Kenneth Akena Watmon, 33, who was shot in the stomach died at Norvik Hospital on Sunday morning.

In separate statements recorded at Jinja Road Police Station, Munwangari and Kanyamunyu said on the fateful day of Saturday November 12, they had a late lunch at the Epiquirien Restaurant in Kololo, where they sat until 6:00pm.

In what appears to be collaborate narration, the two stated that they left the restaurant heading to Luzira, a city suburb, with Cynthia on the steering wheel.

"Cynthia suggested that she drives the car as I continued talking on telephone to my partner," Kanyamunyu, a city businessman says in his statement.

Using Upper Kololo Terrace and joined the Lugogo ByPass, they joined Jinja Road and took the extreme right lane towards Luzira.

But just as she approached the turning opposite Uganda Manufacturers Association, a dark saloon car that was being driven at a high speed then drove past them and knocked their bumper.

"In order to avoid a crash, I then veered of my lane and turned the car and parked on that dusty road that faces the Shell club, just next to a car bond on the Jinja Road," Cynthia says in her statement.

The spot is near the Kyadondo Rugby Grounds. In the same neighbourhood is the Lugogo shopping mall.

By this time, Kanyamunyu says he had dropped his call and that the saloon car was parked in front of them. "It was parked about five metres from our car and I saw two men come out and walk towards
our car.

They came towards the passenger door and tried to force it open. Eventually, they opened it and I went out and a scuffle ensued," Kanyamunyu says.

He says it was during the scuffle that he saw Akena fall down and started crying out that he had been shot. "I then saw the other man flee from the scene and I also dashed back in the car," he says.

Kanyamunyu says they heard Akena groaning and crying that he was in pain and needed help. He added that they contemplated "either to go to Jinja Road Police Station or Kira Road to report the shooting incident, but then decided to help him since we could not stand there and watch him die."

He also says they then decided to rush Akena to Victoria Medical Centre in Kamwokya, next to the British High Commission. Kanyamunyu says Akena, whom he described as still strong, responded to their offer and with some help, sat in the back seat of Kanyamunyu's car.

"He was groaning in pain and at the hospital, they checked on him and said they could not handle his case. They, however, put him on drip and later referred him to Nakasero Hospital," Kanyamunyu says.

He says they asked Victoria Medical Centre to help provide and ambulance, but that they were told that the patient was at a critical stage and the ambulance was still far and that the only option they had was to drive to Nakasero, which was not far away.
Kanyamunyu said at Nakasero Hospital, the doctors on hearing the cause of the injuries, advised that the Police must be informed first.

He said five minutes later, Akena's relatives also arrived and, shortly after, the hospital contacted Wandegeya Police Station whose armed personnel arrived promptly.

"Cynthia and I were taken to Wandegeya, where we recorded a statement and later were transferred to Jinja Road Police Station, where we remained detained .

New Vision learnt that Nakasero Hospital later transferred him to the Intensive Care Unit at Norvick Hospital.

The bereaved family said at the hospital that Akena gave a dying declaration to his cousin John Nyeko, reporting that he had been shot at Lugogo by the person who brought him to hospital.

Akena reportedly said while reversing his car in the parking lot, he accidentally knocked Kanyamunyu's car and as he sought pardon, the suspect shot him .

Nyeko in his statement to Police, reported that his cousin had earlier informed him that he was going to withdraw money for a bank at Forest Mall also in Lugogo.

In his statements, however, Kanyamunyu and Cynthia insist that they were merely Good Samaritans who helped the injured Akena and even though there had been a scuffle, they had not participated in the shooting.

They now say the second man who came out of the car might help resolve the mystery. Kanyamunyu in his statement insisted he had never owned a gun.

Police spokesperson Andrew Felix Kaweesi conformed that Akena was killed by a single bullet fired from a pistol. Police is yet to find the gun, he added.

Even though the detectives at Jinja Road Police station where the suspects had been detained had preferred the capital offence of murder, little evidence had been collected by press time and the file had not yet been submitted to the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP) to be sanctioned.

The suspects can only be arraigned in court when the DPP sanctions the charge and police sources investigating the file were hopeful the suspects would be taken to court today.

The investigations Highly placed sources from the Flying Squad told New Vision that the probe had been complicated by a number of factors that ranged from the inability by security forces to track down the killer weapon and track down a witnesses to the incident.

The forensic tests carried out on the clothing the main suspects were putting on the fateful day also had tested negative of any gun powder.

Police sources also told the New Vision that they had failed to trace any blood in the suspects' car that remains parked at Wandegeya Police.

Police is yet to find witnesses to confirm the shooting, yet the areas that had been earlier mentioned, which included Forest Mall in Lugogo is usually busy with a lot of traffic, especially on a Saturday.

On the same evening, Jinja Road was busy with soccer fans who had been at Namboole for the Uganda Cranes match against Congo Brazzaville .

Security guards at Forest Mall in Lugogo over the weekend said between 7:00pm and 8:00pm, they saw a group of men helping someone into a car that was parked near an electricity pylon. But according to Police there is no such case in their records.

Akena's dying declaration Speaking to New Vision, city lawyer Ladslaus Rwakafuzi said the statement of a dying person was considered credible and trustworthy evidence based on the general belief that most people who are about to die do not lie.

He, however, insisted that it can only be introduced into evidence during trial in certain cases and that the person who makes it must be competent.

Probe update

"We are yet to identify the exact type of gun that was used though he said the recovered bullet was from a pistol. The recovered projectile, confirmed it was a pistol but we cannot still tell what type of pistol it was as we wait for further investigations," Kaweesi said.

He also revealed that the scene of investigations had so far changed and that they were now looking at the main Jinja Road highway next to Kyadondo Rugby Club as the scene of crime because it was from the same scene that they had recovered Akena's car.

"We were relying on the dying declaration from Nyeko, but then we realised that what was said was not what was on the ground," Kaweesi said.

He also said they recovered two cellular phones in Akena's car and that they were still investigating ownership .

Earlier Nyeko told New Vision that he had been contacted by nurses at Victoria Medical Centre in Kamwokya, Kampala using one of the phones they had recovered from Akena's pockets after he was rushed there.