Top UPDF generals dragged in Katanga murder case

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Some of the top UPDF officers who have been named in the case include: Police boss Maj. Gen. Geoffery Katsigazi, Lt. Gen. James Mugira, Maj. Gen. Sam Kavuma, Lt. Col. Albert Kashakamba, and Col. Naboth Mwesigwa, who they allege were the first people to go to the crime scene.

Police boss, Maj. Gen. Katsigazi, has also been named in the case

The petitioners questioned why the businessman’s immediate family—his wife, Molly Katanga, son, and daughter, Siima and Tricia Katanga—waited till the morning hours to announce that Henry Katanga had died. They allege that following his death, Katanga’s wife, with the help of the daughter, jumped over the deceased body and later got admitted into International Hospital Kampala as a patient in the intensive care unit.

Barnabus Taremwa Bwaniaga, one of the petitioners

“It is inhuman that the deceased’s immediate family jumped over his body and went to carry out other errands unrelated to the wrapping of his body,” Machwa said in a statement. He also pointed out that Siima did not attend the burial of his father, which is suspicious.

The petitioners also wondered why Col. Mwesigwa, who never lived with the couple and was not present when Katanga died, quickly fronted a narrative that the deceased had committed suicide.

They said they were shocked by the loud silence of relatives who side with the wife of the deceased.

Last month, Henry Katanga was murdered in the wee hours of the night at his residence in Mbuya, a Kampala suburb. It has since been established by police that the deceased had disagreements with his wife, Molly Katanga, before gunshots were heard from their bedroom.

Below is Barnabas Taremwa’s petition in full:

I am a male adult Ugandan of sound mind, an applicant herein, and a brother-in-law of the late Henry Katanga, the subject of this application. I am also authorised by my co-applicant, Brig. Gen. Karara Freddie Machwa, to make this deposition on his behalf. I thus swear hereunto in that tripartite capacity. (Hereto attached is a copy of the said authority from Brig. Gen. Karara Freddie Machwa, marked Annexure A.)

On the morning of Thursday, November 2, 2023, I learned from my WhatsApp wall that my brother-in-law and best friend, Henry Katanga, had met a violent, gruesome, and wanton death at his home in Mbuya, Nakawa, Kampala.

Further information coming my way again, through my WhatsApp wall, was to the effect that the late Henry Katanga met his death in his bedroom at his home in Mbuya in the presence of his wife, Molly Katanga, and that the said Molly Katanga was in a comatose state.

I was particularly informed by the deceased’s mother, Mirieli Kyobuhoro, whose information I firmly believe to be true and correct, that according to the version shared by relatives of the said Molly Katanga, the late Henry Katanga had retired home late from an evening out with peers and friends.

Speaking for myself, I could neither confirm nor invalidate this assertion.

What I know, though, is that, at the late Henry Katanga’s Mbuya home, he only lived with his son, Sima Katanga, his wife’s niece, a one- Denish Ayebale, and, of course, his wife, Molly Katanga, and about two house helpers.

Along the way, contradictory versions touching on the death of Henry Katanga started making the rounds: according to those aligned with his wife, Henry had committed suicide, yet according to those who had no relationship with Henry Katanga’s wife, Henry had been murdered in cold blood. I was thus lost for words by the controversial versions of news touching on the death of the late Henry Katanga.

My co-applicant and I, as well as other peace-loving Ugandans I have since shared with, continue to grapple with many puzzles touching on the death of late Henry Katanga, but we opted to exercise patience in the hope that the natural course of justice would tie every loose end around the death of late Henry Katanga.

My co-applicant and I are presently advised by our joint lawyers, Mr. Frank Kanduho and Mr. Paul Kuteesa, whose advice I verily believe to be true and correct. Considering the opaqueness with which the late Henry Katanga met his death and the violence that defines his demise, it is trite to take out an application for an inquest so that every myth and doubt touching the death of the late Henry Katanga is probed into.

I now set out hereunder my and my co-applicant’s considered justification for inquest proceedings touching the death of the late Henry Katanga.

Henry, as he was fondly called, was a calm, cool, collected, and composed human being. It turned out to be impossible to believe that he could engage in any domestic brawl with his wife or any member of his family.

Henry loved peace and tranquilly all the years of his life; he was thus not the type that could be the subject of such a gruesome death, moreover, from within the confines of his marital home.

Considering that Henry lived with his lastborn son, Siima Katanga, for about 12 years, it would naturally follow that he has an eyewitness account of whatever it was that transpired between his father and mother on that fateful morning.

Strangely, from the day Henry died to date, the whereabouts of his said son remain unaccounted for. More strangely. The said Sima Katanga was never facilitated to stay vigil at his late father’s house in Mbuya, and neither was he available to attend the burial of his slain father.

Doctor’s presence

The presence of a doctor, Dr. Otai Charles, at the home of the late Henry Katanga on the fateful morning of Thursday, November 2, 2023, is as inexcusable as it is unexplainable.

The guts with which late Henry Katanga’s spouse, Moly Katanga, and his daughter, Tricia, chose to abandon the body of late Henry Katanga in a house unattended to by any loved one, as well as the true identity of the person(s) responsible for the decision to whisk away Sima Katanga to an unknown destination and keep him away from the burial arrangements of his slain father, let alone disable the said Sima Katanga from staying vigil at his late father’s Mbuya and Karuroko homes, and what motivated such a decision merit inquest proceedings

Scene of crime

The true identity of the person(s) responsible for the decision to call to the scene (of crime), of all people, Col. Naboth Wabwere and late Henry Katanga’s daughter, Tricia, and not Maj. Gen. Burundi, who is both an immediate neighbour of late Henry Katanga and a cousin of his wife, Molly Katanga, too, is a puzzle, considering that the said Tricia was barely a week old into marriage and thus unlikely within reach of his parents and immediate family, and Col. Naboth Rwabwera lives too far away from the home of late Henry Katanga to be for immediate help.

The person(s) responsible for the decision to bury the body of late Henry Katanga on the floor of his bedroom and instead prioritise the whisking away of his wife into an intensive care unit (ICU) at IHK Hospital—Muyenga under the constant guardianship of Geofrey Kamuntu, her cousin—is a matter of great concern.

The highly billed presence of the late Henry Katanga’s eldest daughter, Martha Nkwanzi Katanga, in the bulk cash section of Stabic Bank’s Forest Mall branch in the early hours of Thursday, November 2, 2023, immediately after the death of her father, is equally puzzling.

The motivation behind the eulogy delivered by Col. Naboth Rwabwera castigating all and sundry and sanitising the late Henry Katanga’s wife, Molly Katanga, is a matter worth probing.

The motive behind the alleged blackout of electricity supply only at Henry Katanga’s home on the night he met his death when there was, in fact, dependable electricity supply everywhere else within the same locality is mind-boggling.

The true identity of the weevil that ate into the CCTV camera in and around late Henry Katanga’s home or house the night he died is a matter worth probing.

The identity of the person(s) behind the decision to hurriedly bury late Henry Katanga without the care to await the wellness of his spouse, Molly Katanga, or the presence of his lastborn son, Sima Katanga, moreover, in utter contravention of an order of court, attracts an inquiry.

The motivation behind the narrative of suicide on the part of the late Henry Katanga by, among others, one Geofrey Kamuntu, one Harriet Mucunguzi, and Col. Naboth Rwabwera, even when none of them shared the same roof with the deceased on the night he died, calls for an inquiry.

The identity of the person(s) who first made it known to the public that Henry Katanga was dead and the identity of the person (s) who made telephone calls to Tricia and Col. Naboth Rwabwera as the first persons to be arrested at the scene (of crime), when Molly Katanga was allegedly in a comatose state, as well as the true identity of the person(s) who erased every trace of blood off every corner of late Henry Katanga’s bedroom and what motivated such action do call for inquest proceedings.

Money

The identity of the person(s) who, on the fateful morning of Thursday, November 2nd 2023, instructed Martha Nkwanzi Katanga to go to the bank to withdraw money as her slain father lay lifeless on his bedroom floor and who it is that countersigned a check for her in her mother’s alleged comatose state is of interest considering she is co-signatory with her mother on the same account, and let alone, what purpose the money so withdrawn was intended to serve are all puzzles that are incapable of being resolved in the absence of an inquest.

The inexcusable presence of a doctor, Dr. Charles Otai, on a murder scene and who it is that invited him to their aid as the first respondent at the scene (of crime) on the early morning of Thursday, November 2, 2023, can only be inquired into by way of an inquest.

Killer gun

The unexplained hand marks of Molly Katanga and her daughter, Tricia, on the alleged killer gun recovered from the scene (of crime) on the morning of Thursday, November 2, 2023, can only be unravelled by way of an inquest.

The alleged surgery conducted on the head and arms of Moly Katanga, as gathered from the eulogy of Maj. Gen. Sam Kavuma, merits a probe.

The presence of the Deputy Inspector General of Police as well as that of Lt. Gen. James Mugira, Maj. Gen. Sam Kavuma, Brig. Charity Bainababo, Col. Naboth Rwabwera, Lt Col. Biteeya, and Lt Col. Kashakamba at the scene (of crime) and what role, exactly, each one of them played in the events before, during, and after the burial of late Henry Katanga, and what it is that each one of them knows regarding the death of late Henry Katanga, are matters that ought to be probed into in fully understanding matters touching late Henry Katanga’s death.

The motivation behind the d e a d silence of the house helpers of late Henry Katanga, i.e., Nantume Evelyn and Amanyire George, as well as the motivation behind the d e a d silence on the part of one Denish Avebare moments after the death of late Henry Katanga yet during the alleged comatose state of Molly Katanga, is such that it is only an inquest that would unravel it.

To date, no one can reliably state who it was that shot at the late Henry Katanga, thereby bringing his life to an untimely end, or whether it was indeed the deceased who, in fact, shot at himself in an overt case of suicide.

There are no criminal proceedings that my co-applicant and I are aware of that have commenced to bring any of the real or perceived killers of the late Henry Katanga to justice.

I swear this affidavit in support of the application for an inquest. Whatever is herein stated is true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief.