Three quizzed over Bugiri school inspector’s death

Police detectives yesterday descended on Bukoyo Village, Bulamagi Sub-county, Iganga District, and interrogated a sister to two shamba boys who are suspected to have kidnapped and murdered the Bugiri District Inspector of Schools, Mr David Tenywa Kazungu.

Mr Tenywa, whose body was found in an incomplete pit-latrine yesterday, was a brother of Dr Waiswa Kazungu of Mulago Hospital and Makerere University, and a younger brother of Ms Justine Kazungu, a State House employee.

Ms Diana Nandaula, the Busoga East Police Spokesperson, said three suspects have so far been arrested. 

“The trio aren’t prime suspects, but will help us in our investigations,” Ms Nandaula said yesterday.

According to Ms Nandaula, the deceased was last seen at around 11am on Saturday driving his vehicle, a Toyota Premio, towards his farm in Nanderema Village  in Bugiri District.

“On Monday, the daughter reported to Bugiri Central Police Station that her dad is missing and that they were receiving calls demanding a Shs20m ransom,” Ms Nandaula added.

A source close to the family, but declined to be named, said when the deceased went missing, they thought he had gone for a seminar and tried tracing him until Sunday when they started receiving phone calls from suspected kidnappers.

 “The kidnappers first rang asking for Shs50m, before reducing it to Shs20m; then by Monday evening, they were demanding Shs5m after which they asked, you mean you have no money to give us? It was at this moment that the kidnappers reportedly directed the family to the incomplete pit-latrine where his body was found,” the source said, adding that throughout the ordeal, the kidnappers communicated with the deceased’s family using the victim’s phone.

Monitor has since established that the suspected kidnappers spent most of the time speaking with Ms Sheila Kazungu, the daughter of the deceased.

Mr Sam Katambala, 43, the deceased’s brother who was regularly with Ms Kazungu and occasionally eavesdropped on the conversation his niece had with the kidnappers, said the family has “positively matched” the ransom-seeking calls to two shamba boys.

“They are people we have lived with, who kept telling us stories of their school days; so there is no way we could fail to identify them from their voices,” he said, adding that Ms Kazungu was the only person speaking with the kidnappers.

“At one moment, she told the kidnappers that MTN’s network was down and they provided an Airtel line which is not registered to either of them. They initially sent Short Message Service (SMS) texts, but later resorted to calling. I kept hearing them say in Lusoga: ‘send us the money!” Mr Katambala said.

Ms Nandaula said the deceased was last seen talking to his casual labourers on the farm, who have all since disappeared. “The shamba boys are nowhere to be seen, so we suspect that they could know something about the incident,” she added.

She said a foul smell and flies drew residents to an incomplete pit latrine, where they found the deceased with his legs bound with ropes.

Ms Nandaula  said the deceased was  taken to Bugiri Hospital mortuary for an autopsy. 
 Mr Katambala said the deceased left home on Saturday morning, saying he was going to his farm; however, it was not until people noticed his car conspicuously parked in the same spot  for three days, that they realised something was not right.

Mr James Kalinaki, the head teacher of Kibimba Primary School in Bugiri District, praised the deceased for being at the forefront of improving the academic performance of schools in the district, adding that last term, he had started mobilising parents to feed  learners.

The deceased, 54,  has been the inspector of schools in Bugiria  since  2004 and is  survived by five children.

He will be buried today in Matovu Village in Bugiri  District.

*Additional reporting by Asuman Musobya