Ssebuwufu defends self in car bond murder case

Kampala. Mr Muhammed Ssebuwufu has defended himself in Buganda Road Chief Magistrate’s Court against charges of murdering Betty Donah Katusabe in 2015.
The 35-year-old city car dealer told court that there was no reason to kidnap the deceased because she had given him a post-dated cheque for payment of the balance on the vehicle bought from him.
Under unsworn defence or testimony, a suspect is not cross-examined by the prosecution to challenge the authenticity of the information. The defence lawyer does not lead the suspect either.

“My lord, I could not even waste my time to look for Katusabe because I had retained the car logbook which was still in my name. If the cheque had bounced, I could easily rush to Uganda Revenue Authority and lodge a caveat,” Mr Ssebuwufu said.
Mr Ssebuwufu and seven others are charged with murder, robbery and kidnap of Katusabe.

The seven are: Godfrey Kayiza, Philip Mirambe, Stephen Lwanga, Paul Tasingika, Yoweri Kitayimba, Damaseni Ssentongo and Shaban Otuddu.
Mr Ssebuwufu said that on the fateful day of October 21, 2015, as he drove to work at his car depot on Lumumba Avenue in Kampala, he received a call from Mr Samuel Kiwanuka, who also owns a car bond in the neighbourhood.

“In the call, Mr Kiwanuka was requesting that I visit his bond that morning because Katusabe was going to pay my balance in cash after which I could give her the logbook. He asserted that Katusabe owed him some money for the Prado TX vehicle she sold in DR Congo and that she was to hand over the logbook to him,” he said.
He said he told Mr Kiwanuka the grace period he had given to Katusabe had not elapsed but if she agreed to remit his balance he would hand over the logbook.

Mr Ssebuwufu said he talked to Katusabe that morning at Mr Kiwanuka’s office where he found three police officers with her.
However, he later left her with Mr Kiwanuka to agree on the payment schedule. He said when he later returned, he found Mr Kiwanuka’s car depot crowded with people shouting that Katusabe was a thief. He said he inquired from Mr Kiwanuka by telephone whether he and Katusabe had reached an agreement. Mr Kiwanuka angrily told him Katusabe had changed her mind.

Mr Ssebuwufu said he called the then Kampala Deputy Police Commander, Aaron Baguma, at Central Police Station who sent some officers to rescue Katusabe. Mr Ssebuwufu said the following day he received sad news that Katusabe had died. He said he rushed to CPS to verify the information but upon reaching there, he was ordered to make a statement.

Mr Ssebuwufu claimed that Katusabe’s private lawyer, Ms Annet Kobusingye, visited him in Luzira Prison to convince him to pay Shs100m to stop prosecution witnesses from testifying against him. He claimed he rejected the request because he is innocent.
The trial judge, Ms Flavia Senoga, adjourned the case to January 3, 2019.

The case
Prosecution contends that the accused on October 21, 2015 at Pine Car Bond on Lumumba Avenue in Kampala murdered Katusabe and robbed her of her mobile phone valued at Shs300, 000 and used a panga and sticks to kill her.

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