The body of Maria Nagirinya Gateni, a staff at Community Integrated Development Initiatives (CIDI) a Non-Government Organisation that works in the Water and Sanitation sub-sector who has been missing since Wednesday has been found in Mukono district
Nagirinya was abducted on Wednesday evening at her rented residence in Lungujja, while she waited for her sister to open the gate and on Friday morning, her vehicle, a Toyota Spacio, registration number UBA570V was discovered in Nateete.
However, according to reports from Mukono, the body has been recovered dumped in a water channel at Nakitutuli village, Nama sub-county in Mukono district along the Mukono –Kayunga road alongside the one for another person identified as Ronald Kitayimbwa, a Boda Boda rider.
Kampala Metropolitan police spokesperson, Patrick Onyango, however, told this website that Kitayimbwa’s body had been positively identified.
“Kitayimbwa’s brother identified as Lubega has identified the body but we are waiting for Nagirinya’s relatives to help us identify whether the body is hers,”Onyango told this website.
Sources in security said the perpetrators first switched off Nagiriinya’s phones but later switched them back on.
Police also reviewed CCTV footage and discovered that the victim’s vehicle was last spotted around Kinnawattaka in Kireka, but with only one occupant who was in a red jacket.
“When we tracked the co-ordinates we discovered that she was taken towards Entebbe around Nkumba, but we are hopeful she will be located,” a source said.
Last year, Nagirinya got married to a businessman known as Edgar Gateni, who later went to Dubai. It is not clear whether the couple is still in touch. Gateni’s mother, Jamirah Nakayiza, yesterday said she has not been in touch with the daughter in-law.
Narrating the last time she saw her sister, Berna Nakidde said she missed a call from Nagirinya, who later called their cousin Grace Kalembe, alerting her that Nakidde should open the gate. This was about 11:00 pm.
“Before I reached the gate, I heard people banging the car hard. I continued moving towards the entrance but as I opened the gate, I saw a man dressed in a red jacket, lifting my sister and forcing her into the hind seat. Nakidde was screaming for help. The perpetrators fled the scene at high speed,” Nakidde said.
She said the case was reported at Kibumbiro Police vide SD: 04/29/08/2019. Francis Anthony Lubowa, the father of Nagiriinya and proprietor of the Institute of Advanced Leadership, Uganda, in Nsambya, has since appealed for help as he tries to understand the motive of the kidnappers.
“My daughter is not a politician she is just a social worker who does community work to empower ordinary Nagiriinya Gateni’s home in Lungujja”