A former top cop is directly linked to an old assassination case. Nickson Agasiirwe Karuhanga, an ex-senior superintendent of police, and another guy named Abdu Noor Ssemujju, also known as Minaana, are headed for a High Court trial. They are accused of the murder of Joan Namazzi Kagezi, a former assistant director of public prosecutions. Prosecutors say Agasiirwe hid the actual gun used to kill her almost ten years ago. The state is building its case on circumstantial evidence. Papers for the trial were signed off on recently.
The story here is completely wild. Agasiirwe started as a police informant before becoming a constable in the old Rapid Response Unit in Kireka. He climbed the ladder fast, running the Special Operations Unit by 2015. That unit answered only to the police inspector general. Prosecutors claim he knowingly recruited Minaana as an informant even though the guy had a long rap sheet for murder, armed robbery, and car theft. Minaana was connected to a bunch of other violence, like an attack on Naggalama police station, where cops died, and guns were taken. Agasiirwe apparently kept getting him out of jail and even presented him to the former police chief as a useful asset. Minaana ended up on the police payroll with bodyguards.
This ties into Kagezi's killing because a convicted hitman, Daniel Kisekka, testified that a man called Nickson paid him and three others to do it. Kagezi was prosecuting major terrorism cases, including the Kampala bombings. She was shot dead near her home in Kiwatule while with her kids. The shooters were on a motorcycle. While the killers were promised a huge sum, police think they only got a smaller amount right after. Agasiirwe is accused of supplying the guns, money, and planning. He then allegedly hijacked the investigation, took her laptop and files, and later falsely claimed to have found the murder weapon as a distraction. Kagezi had reportedly said she feared Agasiirwe wanted her dead just a day before she was killed. She had already approved criminal charges against him and Minaana before her death.
The charges also link the pair to other murders and robberies in several countries. Both men have been declared mentally fit. The state has video statements, interview recordings, and witnesses ready. They are locked up in Luzira Prison waiting for a trial date. Agasiirwe was already in detention for five years on separate charges about refugees and ammunition, where he was previously charged alongside the former inspector general of police.
The story here is completely wild. Agasiirwe started as a police informant before becoming a constable in the old Rapid Response Unit in Kireka. He climbed the ladder fast, running the Special Operations Unit by 2015. That unit answered only to the police inspector general. Prosecutors claim he knowingly recruited Minaana as an informant even though the guy had a long rap sheet for murder, armed robbery, and car theft. Minaana was connected to a bunch of other violence, like an attack on Naggalama police station, where cops died, and guns were taken. Agasiirwe apparently kept getting him out of jail and even presented him to the former police chief as a useful asset. Minaana ended up on the police payroll with bodyguards.
This ties into Kagezi's killing because a convicted hitman, Daniel Kisekka, testified that a man called Nickson paid him and three others to do it. Kagezi was prosecuting major terrorism cases, including the Kampala bombings. She was shot dead near her home in Kiwatule while with her kids. The shooters were on a motorcycle. While the killers were promised a huge sum, police think they only got a smaller amount right after. Agasiirwe is accused of supplying the guns, money, and planning. He then allegedly hijacked the investigation, took her laptop and files, and later falsely claimed to have found the murder weapon as a distraction. Kagezi had reportedly said she feared Agasiirwe wanted her dead just a day before she was killed. She had already approved criminal charges against him and Minaana before her death.
The charges also link the pair to other murders and robberies in several countries. Both men have been declared mentally fit. The state has video statements, interview recordings, and witnesses ready. They are locked up in Luzira Prison waiting for a trial date. Agasiirwe was already in detention for five years on separate charges about refugees and ammunition, where he was previously charged alongside the former inspector general of police.
