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New details on Martha Ahumuza’s death emerge
Deceased: Martha Ahumuza Murari, 23. PHOTO/ COURTESY
What you need to know:
Detectives close to the investigation informed this publication they retrieved the WhatsApp messages from the phones of the deceased and accessed the conversation between Ahumuza and the prime suspect, Mr Edward Mugabo, a cashier at Mezo Noir Bar in Kololo, Kampala
A preliminary police investigation report states that Martha Ahumuza Murari, who collapsed at Mezo Noir Bar in Kololo, Kampala and later died at a hospital, had asked the key suspect in the case to meet her at the bar.
Detectives close to the investigation informed this publication they retrieved the WhatsApp messages from the phones of the deceased and accessed the conversation between Ahumuza and the prime suspect, Mr Edward Mugabo, a cashier at Mezo Noir Bar in Kololo, Kampala.
Detectives said Ahumuza used the opportunity of her mother not being around and engaged her friend, Mugabo, asking him whether he would be at Mezo Noir on Wednesday night.
Ahumuza was staying with her mother Barbara Kagonyera in Namugongo, Kiira Division, Wakiso District.
At the time of the incident, the mother is said to have had gone for a business trip in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
According to detectives, at around 10pm, Ahumuza first went to another bar in Kololo, where she spent about one and half hours and later joined Mugabo at Mezo Noir at 11pm, where she took the alleged poisoned liquor.
Surveillance footage allegedly shows her entering an office within the bar alongside Mr Mugabo. Moments later, Mr Mugabo reportedly rushed out in distress and sought help from his brother, Mr Joseph Kalenzi.
“By the time Ahumuza collapsed from the bar, all customers had left and there were only four people remaining in the bar,” the detective said.
The investigator noted that after consuming the alleged poisoned drink, Ahumuza was sexually assaulted before she collapsed.
She was taken to Kampala Hospital, where she was pronounced dead the following day.
“A medical examination was done on the deceased and it showed there was penetration within the specified time,” the detective said.
Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson Patrick Onyango said a police forensic pathologists conducted a post-mortem on the deceased, while officials from the Government Analytical Laboratory (GAL) picked samples of the deceased’s internal organs for tests, and they are awaiting results.
Mr Onyango added that they have two suspects in custody, Mugabo and his brother Kalenzi.
“The detectives are preparing the file to submit it to the Resident State Attorney for legal advice,” Mr Onyango said.
