Kaweesi murder: Police offered me Shs1b to pin Tumukunde - Suspect

Godfrey Musisi Galabuzi

What you need to know:

  • On April 24, Musisi, wife and Mr Kimbugwe were transferred from Nalufenya to Kira Road Police Station and released on bond on charges of terrorism and murder. Musisi was later produced in Nakawa Chief Magistrate’s Court on May 8 and charged with conspiracy to commit murder. He was remanded until he was released on bail later.

Kampala. The puzzle about the murder of Assistant Inspector General of Police Andrew Felix Kaweesi continues to take more twists as one of the suspects says police interrogators offered him Shs1b to implicate Security minister Lt Gen Henry Tumukunde.
Godfrey Musisi Galabuzi’s claim is contained in the case he filed against the government in the High Court yesterday for alleged torture and violation of his rights.
Musisi, a former intelligence operative with the Internal Security Organisation (ISO), was arrested with his wife Grace Kayiwa Nankya and three workers Bernard Friday, Stuart Ainebyona and George William Kimbugwe on March 23 and detained at Nalufenya Police Station in Jinja a few days after Kaweesi’s assassination on March 17.
In his petition to court, Musisi says at Nalufenya, police interrogators asked him to implicate Lt Gen Tumukunde in Kaweesi’s assassination in exchange for his freedom.
He says the interrogators locked him in a small room sprayed with toxic gas that suffocated and blinded him.
“The interrogators offered the first plaintiff (Musisi) a deal in which he would regain his freedom and Shs1 billion if he testified to the effect that he was approached by Henry Tumukunde on March 2, to procure personnel that would assassinate Kale Kayihura and Kaweesi. He declined the deal and was returned to the same room for further suffocation,” Musisi’s lawyers state in the particulars of the suit in the High Court.
The case was filed by human rights lawyer Ladislaus Rwakafuuzi of Rwakafuuzi and Co. Advocates on instructions of Musisi and his co-accused.
Particulars of the suit further state that at Nalufenya, Musisi’s wife was told by interrogators that her husband had participated in the killing of Kaweesi and she cooked food for the killers.
It is further stated that Friday, one of the workers, was offered Shs200m to testify that Musisi had deployed him to visit Kaweesi’s residence on a spying mission in preparation for the assassination.
Musisi alleges that when he told the interrogators, “Tumukunde has a wide network. What if I die?” they subjected him to further torture including immersing his head in a bucket of water and indiscriminate beating.
Police spokesman Asan Kasingye yesterday said he was not aware of Musisi’s claims, but promised to inquire into the matter.
Lt Gen Tumukunde was not available for a comment as our calls to his known cellular telephone contacts went unanswered.
Sources told Daily Monitor that on May 2, the Uganda Human Rights Commission chairman, Mr Med Kaggwa, visited Nalufenya Police Station and Musisi told him the alleged offer by police to implicate Tumukunde and how he was further tortured after rejecting the deal.
This claim could not be independently verified as Mr Kaggwa’s cellular phone was not accessible by press time.
However, Mr Meddie Mulumba, who accompanied him to Nalufenya, said: “We interviewed many suspects. I don’t have specific ones off the head but I don’t recall any of them telling us that they were asked to implicate Tumukunde. But they did say they had been tortured before being brought to Nalufenya....”
According to the particulars of the case, Musisi, wife and workers were arrested at dawn at his home by Anti-Terrorism police.
“During the arrest a police officer named Micheal attempted to place what appeared a magazine and pistol onto his bed but because one Johnson Olal Dale who headed the search and arrest team, had warned him to be careful, he (Musisi) asked Michael not to plant the magazine and pistol on his bed,” the suit reads in part. Musisi’s lawyer Rwakafuuzi says the arrest was a scheme to frame his client.
They are seeking court declarations that their arrest, torture and detention in police custody for than 30 days was a violation of their rights under Articles 23 and 24 of the Constitution. They want the government to pay them general and punitive damages and costs of the suit.
On April 24, Musisi, wife and Mr Kimbugwe were transferred from Nalufenya to Kira Road Police Station and released on bond on charges of terrorism and murder. Musisi was later produced in Nakawa Chief Magistrate’s Court on May 8 and charged with conspiracy to commit murder. He was remanded until he was released on bail later.