Resident facilitates arrest of boda boda killer

Police arrest Sekyewa, Mwanje and their accomplices. Illustration by Cosmas Arinaitwe

Geoffrey Luutu needed a financial multiplier in his income. And the best engine to deliver quick returns in a rural setting was a motorcycle, so he thought.

In Lukaya Town Council, investing in boda boda business is big business.

Luutu bought a Suzuki motorcycle and handed it over to Geoffrey Kazoora. He expected to get returns on a daily basis so that he could pay off the balance to the motorcycle dealers in Kampala city.

On May 20, 2008, Kazoora didn’t deliver any coin nor did he communicate why he was unable to return home, according to police records.

Luutu and Kazoora’s family searched for him and the motorcycle in vain. The news of his disappearance travelled fast to several areas. Police also got involved in the search.

Many lines of investigations came up. Some people said he could have chosen to run away with this new motorcycle in the village to start a new life. Others said he could be a victim of iron bar criminals who target motorcyclists, kill them and run away with their bikes.

Police officers had to act first. Leads to who could be behind the offence failed one after another. When both the police and Kazoora’s family were about to lose hope, then came a new lead.

One Edirisa Mugerwa told them that he had seen a numberless black Suzuki motorcycle that looked like one that Kazoora often rode, in a garage in Bukomansimbi District.
The moment the detectives got the information, they rushed to the garage.

Indeed they found the missing motorcycle. But what was now important to them was finding out the whereabouts of Kazoora.
Patrick Ssemanda, the owner of the garage, was put to task to explain how the motorcycle ended up in his garage.
Ssemanda didn’t waste detectives’ time. He said he didn’t know Kazoora’s whereabouts, but the motorcycle had been brought by two men; Ahamed Sekyewa and Bashir Mwanje.
He said the two men had approached him through a friend looking for a motorcycle buyer.

Finding Kazoora's body
With the motorcycle in their possession, the detectives hunted for Sekyewa and Mwanje to establish Kazoora’s whereabouts.

In no time detectives arrested Sekyewa. He told detectives that the motorcycle wasn’t his and he had taken it to Ssemanda’s garage.

Detectives’ hunt for Mwanje also yielded results. He was detained and interrogated.

Mwanje conceded to have taken the motorcycle to Ssemanda’s garage with the help of Sekyewa.

However, none was willing to reveal how they came into possession of the motorcycle.

After hours of interrogation, Mwanje panicked and accepted to cooperate with the detectives.

Mwanje narrated to the detectives that he was in company of Sekyewa, Othuman Kalungi, Sulait Senfuka and Muhamudu Lubowa when they hired Kazoora’s services.

However, on the way to their destination, they turned against Kazoora. Mwanje said Kazoora attempted to put up a fight, but he was held tight by the team as Kalungi stabbed him.
They later dumped his body in Kakwanzi in Masaka District.
He said they took his motorcycle with the intention of selling it.

Detective John Asiimwe and Detective Assistant Inspector of Police Apollo Batgerize told Mwanje to take them to the place where they dumped the body.

He agreed and they walked straight to a bush where they recovered the body.

It was difficult for detectives to identify the face of the deceased since his attackers had poured acid on his face after stabbing him several times.

Kazoora’s body was taken to the hospital where it was identified by his relatives. Medical officers confirmed the deceased was killed after being stabbed and then acid was poured on him.

Basing on information in Mwanje’s statement, the detectives arrested Kalungi, Senfuka and Lubowa on charges of aggravated robbery and murder.

Both offences being felonies that attract capital punishment on conviction, each suspect started fighting to save his life.

Kalungi denied taking part in the robbery and murder of Kazoora.

He told police officers that Sekyewa and Mwanje took the motorcycle to his shop in Nyendo Town in Masaka District to act as a collateral if he gave them a loan of Shs600,000.
Kalungi said he hesitated so the duo suggested that he buys it from them. He said he didn’t have the money so he connected them to two people who buy secondhand motorcycles.

He named Edirisa Mugerwa, who operated in Lukaya, Kalungu District, and Ssemanda, a resident of Bukomansimbi District.
The details he told detectives brought investigations closer to the killers and robbers.

Senfuka also denied any involvement in the offences saying that on the day the incident happened, he was in Lugazi, Buikwe District.

Lubowa said he was not near the crime scene on the fateful day and he was surprised that Mwanje linked him to a case he was never involved in.

Mwanje told the detectives that Sekyewa gave him Shs500,000 out of the motorcycle sale proceeds. At this point Sekyewa conceded, but he said he didn’t know how Mwanje had acquired the motorcycle.

After the confession, the detectives recorded Mwanje’s charge and caution statement.

The detectives preferred charges of murder and aggravated robbery against the five suspects Mwanje, Sekyewa, Senfuka, Kalungi and Lubowa. When the file was submitted to the Director of Public Prosecutions, it was sanctioned and all suspects presented in court where they were remanded.

In 2012, while taking plea, all the accused people, including Mwanje, denied the murder and aggravated robbery charges before Justice Kibuuka Musoke in Masaka High Court.

The State presented more than 13 witnesses, including police officers, who recovered the body and the garage owner. All State witnesses repeated what they earlier told police in their statements.

The defence also put up a spirited fight. Hajj Sekyewa told court that Ssemanda lied when he said he took the motorcycle to his garage. He also denied that he ever told Detective Sergeant Ismail Kiiza that he sold the motorcycle to a rider in Gomba District.

D/Sgt Kiiza had testified that Sekyewa told him that he had sold the motorcycle to a rider only identified as Yiga and that he gave a faction of the proceeds to Mwanje.

Mwanje told court that they should disregard his confession to the police since it was extracted through duress. After analysing how the confession was obtained and its implication in what court calls a trial within a trial, Justice Kibuuka Musoke allowed the confession as part of the evidence in court.

During the judgement, Justice Kibuuka Musoke, said court didn’t find any substantial evidence “either direct or circumstantial that Sekyewa took part in the killing of the deceased”.

“The evidence of both Kalungi and Mwanje “shows that he [Sekyewa] was in possession of the stolen motorcycle. But that would not lead to the conclusion that he participated in the murder…. Court duly agrees with three assessors that Sekyewa should be acquitted of the charge of murder and he is so acquitted,” the judge said.

The judge turned to Kalungi. He said although he was mentioned in Mwanje’s charge and caution statement as the one who stabbed the deceased and his connection to the sale of a stolen motorcycle, there was no substantial evidence that he participated in the killing. Kalungi was also acquitted of murder.

The judge also acquitted Kalungi, Senfuka and Lubowa of the robbery charge and ordered that they are set free.
Although the court acquitted Sekyewa of murder and robbery, it convicted him of receiving stolen property.

The judge said Mwanje, had implicated himself “fully in his confession”.

He said Mwanje’s confession was well corroborated by evidence provided by the police officers.

“Court convicts him of the offence of murder contrary to sections 188 and 189, of the Penal Code Act. It also convicts him of the offence of robbery contrary to sections 285 and 286 (2) of the Penal Code Act,” the judge said.
Sekyewa was sentenced to 14 years in jail while Mwanje was given a life sentence.