Kazini wanted to kill me, says Draru
Draru takes a sip of water in court recently. PHOTO BY Anthony Wesaka
What you need to know:
Draru maintains that she did not intend to kill Maj. Gen. Kazini but hit him with an iron bar in self-defence as he had threatened to finish her off.
KAMPALA
After recovering from her collapse in court last week, Lydia Draru has put in her defence, telling court that the slain former army commander, Maj. Gen. James Kazini, wanted to shoot her when he drew a gun at her on the fateful night.
In her unsworn defence that lasted close to-one-and half hours, Draru told court that upon returning from a night out with the soldier, he accused her of infidelity and theft. “He accused me of bringing men in the house before boxing me and drawing a gun, saying he could ‘finish’ me off,” said Draru adding, “I knelt down and asked him (Kazini) why he wanted to kill me and yet he very well knew that I was an orphan and he was my mother and father.” She said Kazini calmed down but cautioned her to be very careful with her life.
Last week the trial judge Monica Mugenyi ruled that basing on the evidence adduced by prosecution, there was need for Draru to defend herself against the murder charges preferred against her. A ruling which made her collapse.
Self defence
Draru, who spoke fluent Luganda, maintained that she did not intend to kill Maj. Gen. Kazini but hit him with an iron bar in self-defence as he had threatened to finish her off.
“Kazini said he was going to return with his gun and finish me off and my Lord when I heard this statement,” she said, “In self-defence, I picked up an iron bar and hit him on the back but as he turned, the bar hit him on the head, sending him down.”
In an emotional tone, Draru said Kazini fell on the floor which had sharp broken pieces of glass which inflicted wounds on his head. However, a pathologist, Dr Thaddeus Barungi, had told court that Maj. Gen. Kazini had three deep cut fresh wounds and that the cause of his death was trauma.
Draru, who was Kazini’s mistress, is accused of killing the latter using an iron bar at her then rented house at Project Zone in Wabigalo, Makindye Division, Kampala in November 2009.
While winding up, Draru affirmed her defence to court. “My Lord that is from deep my heart without deceiving,” she said. Hearing resumes tomorrow with the judge summing up for the two court assessors who will then give their layman’s opinion on whether Draru is guilty of murder or not.
