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Who is Molly Katanga?
The late Henry Katanga with his wife Molly. The couple had been married for nearly 30 years. Photo/File
What you need to know:
- Top law firm, Kampala Associated Advocates (KAA), writing on behalf of Molly and her children, yesterday informed the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) that the widow underwent multiple surgeries, including one finger being amputated after two failed procedures to save it, due to head and hand injuries during the night Katanga died.
On the morning of November 2, a shooting occurred at the marital home of businessman Henry Katanga, in Kampala’s Mbuya outskirt.
Katanga was a royal from Ankole Kingdom and brother of the late Arthur Kasasira, who was among the first 41 fighters of the rebel outfit, the National Resistance Army (NRA), which barrelled President Museveni to power in 1986 after a five-year guerrilla war against Milton Obote and his government.
Katanga died of a gunshot wound and his body was taken to the mortuary for a postmortem. Prior to his death, there were claims that Katanga had returned home in the wee hours of Thursday after socialising with his friends.
His sudden demise on the one hand cut short the life of a productive man and on the other opened up conspiracy theories on the cause.
One account is that he committed suicide and another that he was murdered by his wife, now widow, Molly Katanga.
Reported to be in intensive care at a hospital in Kampala, Molly was yesterday charged in absentia with the murder of her husband, a notable businessman.
Four others, among them two of their children, were indicted for allegedly destroying evidence and or being accessory after the fact.
About Molly
Katanga and Molly had been married for nearly 30 years. In Kampala, the Ugandan capital, the family first lived in Bugolobi flats.
Molly is the daughter of the late Mzee Bunanukye, a Born-Again Christian who lived in Rwampara. She, like her father was, is of the Basigi clan.
The widow is a businesswoman and widely connected by business and biological relations to the higher-ups of state and military power in Uganda.
Her contract with the Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs includes supplying grain and other foodstuff to the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF).
She, among others, owns a number of properties including apartments in Mbuya, Bugolobi flats and a farm in Kiruhura District.
Molly Katanga is a niece of retired army officer, Brig Emmanuel Burundi Nyamunwanisa, who is her neighbour in Mbuya.
She is a cousin of Mr Geoffrey Kamuntu, a businessman and former son-in-law of President Museveni.
Her sister was married to the recently deceased Col Jack Mucunguzi, one of the first 41 NRA fighters who attacked Kabamba barracks to launch the rebel movement against Obote’s government.
A year after the attack on Kabamba barracks, Mucunguzi, according to Bush War comrades, ‘accidentally’ shot his friend and fellow rebel fighter, Hannington Mugabi.
He was tried but found innocent. Nonetheless, he was discharged from the NRA.
The shooting incident to-date remains one of the major Luweero Bush-War ‘conspiracy theories.’
Some veterans of the fighting claim that Mugabi was killed to cover-up an attempted ‘palace coup’ after the death of NRA commander, Sam Magara, who was killed in Mengo by government soldiers in August 1982.
Shortly after her husband Katanga succumbed to bullet wounds, Molly was checked into a hospital where she was reported to be in a critical condition.
Top law firm, Kampala Associated Advocates (KAA), writing on behalf of Molly and her children, yesterday informed the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) that the widow underwent multiple surgeries, including one finger being amputated after two failed procedures to save it, due to head and hand injuries during the night Katanga died.
The lawyers had complained that media reports quoting details of ongoing police investigations suggested a tampering with the process and asked that the reported evidence be re-examined and their client, Molly, examined afresh by the police surgeon.
However, the prayers came too little too late for a DDP who sanctioned the charges of murder against Molly, who was reported hospitalised and didn’t appear for her formal indictment.
Sub Editor: Eva Kyomugisha
