Fear deters police probe into Kiwanuka disappearance

If it was not for the reign of terror at the time, maybe today, Ugandans would have known in detail about the abduction and death of former Chief Justice Benedicto Kiwanuka.
Attempts by police detectives to investigate Kiwanuka’s disappearance were hampered by fear and intimidation, especially from senior security officers.
This was contained in a testimony before the commission of inquiry into the violation of human rights in Uganda from October 9, 1962, to January 25, 1986, whose report is yet to be made public.

On September 15, 1988, deputy superintendent of police Joyce Drani Mawa told the commission how intimidation and sabotage hindered her from making a conclusive investigation into the death of the former Chief Justice.

“When I returned [from investigating], I made a draft report and discussed it with a colleague called Ismail Tukei who advised me to delete some of the points in the statement,” she said.

When asked to elaborate on the information she deleted, she said: “Like the car which was used [to kidnap Kiwanuka] belonged to the army although it was now attached to the President’s Office.”

Mawa told the commission that she was assigned to the case in the second week after the abduction of Kiwanuka.

“At the time, I was assistant inspector of police who in normal circumstances should not have handled the case since the dead person was a very prominent and senior government personality,” she said.

Another police detective of the same rank called Mudumba had earlier been assigned the same duty, but was later asked to hand over the file to Mawa.

Mawa said the previous police file had recorded three statements; one from Kiwanuka’s driver, the second from Kiwanuka’s bodyguard and a third person whose name she could not recall.

The investigations
When Mawa started the investigations, she opened a new police file (PF28) with the first task being to locate the car with registration number UUU 171 in which the former Chief Justice was kidnapped.

Mawa told the commission that her findings indicated that the car with the said number plate was a grey Volkswagen saloon car, model 1963, belonging to the Uganda Army of P.O. Box 7069 Kampala.

However, she said, the number plate UUU 171 had been put on a Peugeot which was used to kidnap Kiwanuka.

Mawa tracks car
According to the unpublished commission of inquiry report, Mawa said investigations led her to Lumumba Bar and Night Club in Bwaise, Kampala, where the car with registration number UUU 171 was often sighted in the evenings.

Mawa said she visited the bar three times and it was during the third visit that she found the car parked at the bar.
When she inquired who owned the car, she was showed a man sitting at the counter drinking a soda.

Mawa then joined him at the counter and bought a soda as she started engaging the man in a conversation. When Mawa noticed that the man was about to leave, she left the counter and moved outside.

As soon as the man emerged from the bar, she asked for a lift, which he readily accepted.

“I then pretended to admire the car and asked many questions about it. The man’s response was that the car was not his. He said the vehicle was for the government and was attached to the President’s Office,” Mawa said.

She then asked him about his name and destination, to which he said he was Mahmoud and was going to Makindye. Mahmoud also asked for Mawa’s name, but she gave a fake one which she could not remember when asked by the commission.

The former detective said after making a draft report, her colleague Tukei advised her to delete some of the information, such as the car registration number and that it belonged to the President’s Office.

She also told the commission that Tukei wondered whether she was not “committing suicide” with her investigations.

Report rewritten
Having listened to Tukei, Mawa decided to re-write the report which she then passed on to her immediate boss Daniel Mulemezi. It was Mulemezi to make the final report that would be handed to the Inspector General of Police and the Ministry of Internal affairs permanent secretary.
Mawa said after handing over the report to Mulemezi, she went for lunch.
It was while having lunch that she heard the same report being read on Radio Uganda word by word as she had authored it.

“I wondered what might have happened to the report. I immediately rushed and contacted by boss who simply said he had not yet read the report,” Mawa said.

At that point, she was destroyed and could not continue with the investigations. A week later, Mawa was transferred and she handed over the file.

However, she told the commission that Mahmoud was thought to be in Luzira Maximum Security Prison since 1979 and that she would identify him if put on identification parade.

How Kiwanuka was killed
Superintendent of police Daniel Mulemezi, who hailed from Kamuli District in Busoga sub-region, was at the time the commanding officer of the Police Flying Squad which was charged with investigating serious criminal cases in the country.
When the retired Mulemezi voluntarily appeared before the commission on October 5, 1988, he admitted that he went to Mbuya, Jinja and Lubiri barracks to try and identify the two soldiers who had been seen present during the kidnap of Kiwanuka.

He, however, was told by the adjutants (military office administrators) that he was risking his life by trying to conduct an identification parade.

Mulemezi, who was 71 years old, also attested that from his impeccable source, a military intelligence officer, Odwori Okoth, who was among the soldiers who escorted Kiwanuka from Luzira prison to Nakasero Presidential Lodge, told him that Amin had wanted to release Kiwanuka on condition that Kiwanuka made a declaration on Radio Uganda that he had been kidnapped by guerrillas.

But Kiwanuka refused. Quoting Sergeant Okoth, Amin allegedly said: “Don’t you think I can kill you?”

To which Kiwanuka replied: “You can do so, but I am not going to say anything at all. I will die with the truth.”

It was at this point that incensed Amin pulled his pistol and shot Kiwanuka dead, according to Mulemezi.

Kiwanuka's arrest

According to John Baptist Kapere, former Chief Justice Kiwanuka’s driver since 1962, when they reached the High Court building on that fateful day, Kiwanuka got out of the car and entered his office.

But as Kapere drove to the back of the building to have the car washed, he saw in the driving mirror a light blue car, registration number UUU 171, approaching the building.

“It seems it had been waiting at Shell petrol station [opposite] the court premises near the Grand Imperial Hotel,” he said.

He added that while still behind the court building, Kiwanuka’s bodyguard came running towards him and said some people wanted to arrest the Chief Justice from his chambers, but Kiwanuka had resisted.
Kiwanuka’s was then arrested and bundled into a get-away car at the High Court premises in full view of the public.