The ongoing trial over the 2015 murder of senior state prosecutor Joan Kagezi took a dramatic turn this week after a convicted conspirator named Daniel Kisseka Kiwanuka revealed that the alleged mastermind behind the assassination was a man only identified as “Nickson,” who was reportedly seen in a government-marked vehicle.
Kisseka, now a state witness, offered this revelation during cross-examination before the High Court's International Crimes Division in Kampala. He was testifying against his co-accused — Kibuuka John, Nasur Abdallah Mugonole, and John Massajjage — in the murder trial that has remained one of Uganda’s most haunting unresolved crimes for nearly a decade.
According to Kisseka, it was Kibuuka who told the group that the man orchestrating the plot was called Nickson.
“We asked who was behind the job, and Kibuuka told us it was someone named Nickson,” Kisseka testified. “He met him in a white car with government number plates parked by the roadside in Kalerwe.”
Kisseka admitted that he never directly spoke to Nickson nor received instructions from him. However, he said he witnessed Kibuuka enter the vehicle and engage in what appeared to be a private conversation with the man believed to be the operation’s architect.
Pressed by both prosecution and the panel of four judges to provide more information, Kisseka said the vehicle’s windows were heavily tinted, making it difficult to identify the occupant clearly. He also claimed not to know the specific government agency to which the vehicle belonged.
This new angle adds intrigue to a case already riddled with unanswered questions, especially concerning who ordered the killing and why.
Joan Kagezi was assassinated on March 30, 2015, as she drove home with her children in the Kampala suburb of Kiwatule. At the time, she was leading prosecutions in several major terrorism cases, including those involving suspects in the 2010 Kampala bombings that left 76 people dead.
Authorities have long maintained that her killing was a targeted and calculated hit. Prosecutors argue that a network of individuals, now on trial, carried out the murder with the promise of a substantial financial reward.
Kisseka told the court that the group had been promised USD 200,000 for executing the hit, but none of them ever received more than UGX 500,000 before the operation. The full amount, he said, was never paid.
“We were told the real money would come after the job. That never happened,” he said.
When asked why he was now willing to testify against his co-accused, Kisseka stated that he wanted to come clean and that his conscience had become too heavy to bear in silence.
His evolving testimony, however, has raised questions about his reliability. During earlier proceedings, he had claimed ignorance regarding who ordered the murder, saying he was merely following Kibuuka’s instructions. The introduction of “Nickson” into the narrative came only during the second day of his cross-examination, prompting some legal observers to speculate whether the name was introduced to shift blame.
Nonetheless, the idea that a person driving a government vehicle may have been involved is likely to reignite public scrutiny over the depth of the conspiracy and possible connections to individuals in state institutions.
Despite nearly ten years having passed since the shocking assassination, Kagezi’s death continues to reverberate across Uganda’s legal and political spheres. Human rights advocates and the international legal community have repeatedly called for a thorough investigation and accountability at all levels.
Post a Comment
0Comments