Murder of herdsman triggers chain killings

Dawson Wambi Ndokero’s grandsons Richard Malingha, 20, and Mr Robert Bunafa, 18 find cattle keeper Paul Magala grazing his animals on their farm and ask him to leave but Magala refuses. The two grandsons grab one cow. They wanted to impound it as an exhibit. Magala attempts to stop them and in the ensuing scuffle, Magala collapses and dies. Illustration by COSMAS ARINITWE

What you need to know:

Tragedy. A misunderstanding over trespass on the farm of Dawson Wambi Ndokero, 70, leads to the death of a herdsman Paul Magala. Residents and relatives of Magala later clobber Wambi and his grandson to death in revenge for the herdsman’s death.

NAMUTUMBA.
After winding up with morning work on his farm, Dawson Wambi Ndokero, 70, a local tycoon would retire to his home in Nsinze village-Nsinze Sub-county in Namutumba District.

However, this routine work schedule tragically ended on October 20, 2012. On that fateful day, Wambi did not know that it was his last day.
At 3pm Wambi received a phone call from one of his sons in the capital, Kampala that neighbours were grazing their cattle on his farm. The son had been tipped on telephone by one of the neighbours to the farm in the village. He in turn informed his father to go and check at the farm, which is about 5km from the family home.

The neighbours had turned it into a habit to graze their animals on Wambi’s farm yet he had restricted access to the land. The decision made him a target of those who wanted to graze their animals on his farm.
Upon receiving the call from the son, Wambi immediately sent his two grandsons to the farm to find out.

The grandsons Richard Malingha, 20, and Mr Robert Bunafa, 18, went and found a cattle keeper, one Paul Magala, indeed grazing his animals on their farm.
They asked him to leave and warned him against grazing his cattle on the farm again. Magala refused to leave the farm. The two grandsons grabbed one cow. They wanted to impound it as an exhibit.

Magala reacted and a scuffle ensued. In the process of struggling, the defiant cattle keeper Magala collapsed and died on the spot.

Dazed with fear, the boys rushed back home but never reported the matter to either their grandfather or the Local Council officials.
A local resident who was watching the scuffle between the cattle keeper and the two boys from a distance ran and informed the children of the deceased.
The children rushed to the scene and found their father lifeless. They had also earlier seen Wambi’s two grandsons coming back from their grandfather’s farm.

They made an alarm, which attracted the residents and relatives of the deceased to the scene. They started planning a revenge attack on Wambi’s home. It was now approaching 5pm.

The mob struck the home. On realising danger, Wambi fled to one of his neighbour’s house for his safety. The angry mob first attacked one of Wambi’s grandsons whom they suspected of involvement in Magala’s killing.
They killed Malingha, one of the grandsons, and later killed Wambi whom they tracked to his hiding place in the neighbour’s house.

Police were not aware about the violence until one of Wambi’s grandsons, Bunafa escaped and reported to Nsinze Police Post.

The officer in charge of Nsinze Police Post, Mr Tom Beinomugisha, responded and rushed to Wambi’s home to stop escalation of the bloodshed.

But it was too late. Three people had already been killed. Police opened investigations under Criminal Record Book Ref. No 1130A/2012.

The case of murder was registered at Namutumba Central Police Station.
Police later took the three bodies to Iganga hospital mortuary for postmortem.
Police later handed over the bodies to the relatives for burial.

Wambi and his grandson had deep wounds on their bodies.
Mr Beinomugisha assigned Detective Joseph Oboth, the then district Criminal Investigations Department officer, to handle the investigations and bring the culprits to book.

Mr Oboth and his team of detectives visited the scene.
They carried a search at the scene for possible exhibits. A sketch map of the scene was drawn. Statements were recorded from eyewitnesses.
On November 1, 2012 at 3pm some suspects were arrested and taken to Namutumba Central Police Station.

Police started with arrest of people suspected to have killed Wambi and his grandson. Their statements were recorded. The suspects were presented at an identification parade on November 3, 2012 at 9 am at Namutumba Police Station. Nine suspects were identified by eyewitnesses. They were charged with murder.
The suspects were: Mr Paul Kisule, Mr Gariku Isabirye, Mr Robert Luwalinza and Mr Richard Mukama.

Others were: Mr Moses Gogomba, Mr Isa Kakaire, Mr Fred walubonge, Mr Charles Mubiru and Mr Aggrey Nabareka.

The postmortem reports from Iganga hospital indicated that Wambi and his grandson had died of excessive bleeding and had damaged skulls.
Detective Sergeant Paul Wanyama, who was one of the investigating officers, says after recording the statements from the suspects, police drafted charges of murder and submitted the file to the resident state attorney in Iganga for sanctioning.

On March 12, 2013, the suspects were produced before Namutumba Chief Magistrate’s Court and charged accordingly.
They were remanded pending completion of investigations to be committed to the High Court for trial.

The nine suspects appeared before Justice Flavia Munaaba.
On April 30, 2013, Justice Munaaba convicted all of them for murder and sentenced them to jail terms ranging from 17 to 19 years. They were taken to Kirinya Prison to serve their sentences.

Police also charged Mr Richard Bunafa, the surviving grandson of Wambi in connection with the killing of the cattle keeper, Magala.
Bunafa is still on remand pending trial at Iganga High Court.

Wealthy Wambi was a retired primary school teacher. He was killed three days after President Museveni had just visited him at his home and toured his farm, the epicentre of the bloodshed.

President Museveni had promised him financial assistance and tractors to help him improve his farm as one of the model farmers in the country.
Wambi had a wide range of business projects which included livestock farms, gardens of oranges and mangoes, poultry farm and a plantation of pine trees of about 40 acres. He also had several other businesses.

Guidelines for sentencing

Penalty for murder
Death or life imprisonment. (A 2009 Supreme Court decision held that mandatory death sentences are unconstitutional.)

Guideline sentencing range
Thirty years’ imprisonment to death, with a presumed sentence of 35 years subject to aggravating and mitigating factors. A court may impose life imprisonment if it concludes the circumstances of case do not warrant a death sentence.

Considerations
Death imposed only in rare instances, such as when offense was premeditated; when victim was either a law enforcement officer or public servant killed while on duty, or a state’s witness; or when victim was killed in an act of human sacrifice.

Aggravating factors
Degree of premeditation, use and nature of weapon, vulnerability of victim, gratuitous degradation of victim, or other factors the court deems relevant.

Mitigating factors
Lack of premeditation, subordinate role of offender as member of group or gang in commission of offense, guilty plea, provocation by victim, remorsefulness, intoxication, or other factors the court deems relevant.

Crime report

In 2014, the number of murder cases reported and investigated were 2,421 reflecting an increase of 4.1 per cent. Incidents of suspected ritual murders increased from 12 cases in 2013 to 13 cases in 2014 giving an increase of 8.3 per cent.

There was increase in cases of murder by shooting, mob action, death by poisoning, death by fire among others.

The motives behind such killings include land wrangles, dissatisfaction with delayed/omission of justice, family misunderstandings and business rivalry.

In 2014, the top 10 leading crimes registered were defilement (12,077), common assaults (11,945), threatening violence (6,961), obtaining by false pretense (6,864), thefts of cash (4,396), criminal trespass (4,298), thefts of mobile phones (3,803), burglaries (3,668), child neglect (3,645) and malicious damage to property (3,449).