Kagezi burial set for tomorrow as bomb case stalls
Lawyers chat in an empty court room as they awaited communication from the judge. PHOTO BY Dominic Bukenya
What you need to know:
Joan Kagezi, who was gunned down in Kiwatule, a Kampala suburb on Monday night as she drove home with her children, will be laid to rest at Bukasa in Buloba on Mityana Road at 4pm tomorrow. The burial will be preceded by a requiem service at St Luke Church Ntinda starting at 10am
Kampala.
The Directorate of Public Prosecutions last evening issued a burial programme for the slain Assistant Principal State Attorney.
Joan Kagezi, who was gunned down in Kiwatule, a Kampala suburb on Monday night as she drove home with her children, will be laid to rest at Bukasa in Buloba on Mityana Road at 4pm tomorrow. The burial will be preceded by a requiem service at St Luke Church Ntinda starting at 10am.
On Monday night between 7pm and 8pm, Ms Kagezi, 48, was shot dead by assailants who were trailing her on a boda boda.
Family members, friends and colleagues of the late Kagezi kept vigil at her home on Monday. Police blocked journalists from taking pictures of relatives and mourners.
Case suspended
Yesterday, the High Court suspended indefinitely hearing of the 2010 bombing case in which Kagezi was prosecutor. At the time the case was supposed to take off, defense lawyers led by Caleb Alaka and State Attorney Lino Anguzu held a crisis meeting with presiding judge Alphonse Owiny-Dollo in his chambers to forge a way forward.
The hearing of the bomb case had been scheduled to resume yesterday with the defense lawyers further cross examining the first prosecution witness.
However, after the meeting that lasted for about 30 minutes, the lawyers left the court premises crestfallen. They declined to talk to the press.
Meanwhile, the terror suspects were not produced in court. Counter Terrorism Police, who are usually deployed around court premises whenever the case comes up for hearing, were withdrawn when it became apparent the case would not take off.
Mr Erias Kisawuzi, the spokesperson of the Judiciary, told journalists that the hearing of the case could not go on as planned given the circumstances on the ground. “In the mood we are in the courts cannot give the next hearing date. The court will communicate later to the lawyers about the next hearing date,” he said.
The mood at court was sombre as litigants stood in small groups discussing the brutal murder.
The case
Kagezi was prosecuting a case in which 13 suspects with links to terrorist group, Al-Shaabab, are charged over the twin bombings of Kampala in July 2010. Shewas killed at a time when the US had warned of a possible terror attack on Uganda. The suspects face charges of murder, attempted murder, belonging to a terrorist organisation among other charges.
