KAMPALA — One of the three men on trial for the murder of former Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Joan Kagezi Namazzi has alleged that former Inspector General of Police Gen Kale Kayihura masterminded her assassination.
Nasur Abdallah Mugonole made the allegations on Friday, July 17, 2026, while presenting his defence before the International Crimes Division of the High Court in Kampala.
Kayihura is not among the accused persons in the ongoing trial. Mugonole’s testimony constitutes allegations by an accused person and has not been accepted as fact by the court. The prosecution is expected to test the claims during cross-examination.
Kagezi was shot dead on March 30, 2015, near her home in Kiwatule, a Kampala suburb.
Mugonole denies taking part in shooting
Mugonole told the court that he knew about the plan to kill Kagezi but did not participate in the shooting.
He alleged that police officer Hamisi Kakaire was the gunman and that the firearm used in the killing was supplied by former Flying Squad commander Nickson Agasirwe Karuhanga.
Agasirwe is separately charged with Kagezi’s murder alongside Abdul Noor Ssemujju, also known as Minana. Their case was committed to the High Court after prosecutors completed investigations in December 2025.
Mugonole said his role was limited to gathering intelligence about people involved in planning the assassination and reporting the information to a person he identified only as “Green.”
During his testimony, he also claimed to have participated in or obtained information about other violent operations, including alleged assassination plots, bomb attacks and targeted killings.
He named several people he claimed were involved in the operation against Kagezi, including J.J. Odong, Hamza Kagame, David Muhamuzi and a person identified only as Kayanja, whom he described as an intelligence operative.
The court has not made findings confirming Mugonole’s claims against the people he named.
Claims over documents allegedly held by Kagezi
Mugonole alleged that Kagezi knew him personally and had obtained documents purportedly linking Kayihura to violent activities and illegal firearms dealings.
He claimed the documents angered the former police chief.
According to Mugonole, Kayihura allegedly offered Kagezi Shs1 billion in exchange for the documents, but she declined and reportedly said she intended to hand them over to President Yoweri Museveni.
Mugonole did not claim that he had personally participated in the alleged negotiations. He told the court that some of his information came from conversations with Daniel Kisekka Kiwanuka while they were in prison.
He alleged that Kisekka told him Kayihura had financed and directed the operation and had introduced him to Agasirwe.
Alleged tracking of Kagezi’s telephone
Mugonole further alleged that Kagezi’s mobile telephone was stolen before her murder by a man he identified as Calvin Jordan.
He claimed Jordan gained the family’s trust by pretending to be interested in dating one of Kagezi’s daughters and maintained contact with the family from 2010 until her death.
According to his testimony, Jordan handed the telephone to Agasirwe, who allegedly delivered it to Kayihura at his residence in Ntinda.
Mugonole claimed the telephone was then given to a person identified as Lieutenant Francis, who allegedly installed a tracking device bearing serial number 3250 to monitor Kagezi’s movements.
He said the telephone was returned to Kagezi three days later.
Mugonole also alleged that similar telephone-tracking methods were subsequently used against former Buyende District Police Commander Muhammad Kirumira and former Assistant Inspector General of Police Andrew Felix Kaweesi before they were killed.
No court finding has established a connection between the three killings based on Mugonole’s testimony.
Mugonole further claimed that the original plan was to kill Kagezi on March 29, 2015, one day before she was shot.
Accused declines to identify senior officials
Mugonole told the court that he remained in contact with members of the alleged group while in prison because they believed they had connections to senior government officials and continued sharing information with him.
When the judges asked him to identify the officials, he declined, saying he feared for his safety.
He also admitted participating in a robbery targeting a women’s savings and credit cooperative with Kisekka.
Mugonole testified that while he lived with Kisekka for about four months, Kisekka brought two firearms and their magazines to the residence on June 24, 2007.
Three accused presenting their defence
The three accused currently standing trial are John Kibuuka, also known as Musa; Nasur Abdallah Mugonole; and John Masajjage, also known as Brian Mubiru, Badru or Chongo.
Kibuuka is detained at Kigo Prison, while Mugonole and Masajjage are being held at Kitalya Maximum Security Prison.
They were initially charged alongside Daniel Kisekka Kiwanuka, who pleaded guilty under a plea-bargain agreement with the prosecution and was sentenced to 35 years in prison in May 2025.
A panel comprising Justices Andrew Bashaija, Duncan Gaswaga, Joyce Kavuma and Richard Wejuli Wabwire ruled earlier in July that the three remaining accused had a case to answer on the murder charge and directed them to begin presenting their defence.
Kisekka’s account of the killing
During the prosecution case, Kisekka testified that he had known the three accused since childhood and that they worked in neighbouring bakeries around Kalerwe before he joined the Uganda People’s Defence Forces in 2002.
Kisekka told the court that after completing military training in 2003, he met Kibuuka in Kalerwe. Kibuuka allegedly persuaded him to desert the army, steal firearms and return to Kampala to participate in armed robberies.
Kisekka admitted taking part in motorcycle robberies and attacks on microfinance institutions before agreeing to participate in Kagezi’s murder.
He testified that after deserting the army and escaping from Makindye Military Barracks in July 2011, he moved to Namaliri in Mukono District, where he grew watermelons and tomatoes before turning to charcoal burning.
According to Kisekka, Kibuuka later offered him $200,000 to kill Kagezi, allegedly because she was interfering with cases involving Muslims.
Kisekka said Kibuuka did not disclose the identity of the person financing the killing but assured the group that the sponsor would supply the firearms.
He testified that two days before Kagezi’s murder, he went to Mugonole’s home in Nabweru to clean and oil the two guns intended for the operation.
Prosecution describes movements on day of murder
Kisekka told the court that on March 30, 2015, Kibuuka called the group to assemble under a mango tree in Kyebando.
He alleged that Kibuuka distributed a gun and ammunition and paid each member Shs500,000 as a deposit.
The group reportedly travelled on two motorcycles through Bahai and Ntinda before reaching Kiwatule, where they waited for Kagezi.
According to Kisekka, Kagezi stopped her white double-cabin vehicle to buy fruit at about 7:00 p.m.
He testified that Kibuuka raised his thumb to signal the team before Masajjage rode past Kagezi’s vehicle, allowing Kibuuka to jump off the motorcycle and allegedly shoot her twice.
Kisekka said he fired a shot into the air to disperse members of the public before the group fled through Nsooba and Kanyanya.
He further testified that the group travelled to a traditional healer in Kayunga District the following day for rituals they believed would help them evade arrest. Evidence concerning a visit to a traditional healer was also presented during the prosecution case.
Suspects arrested after prolonged investigation
Investigators took about eight years to identify and arrest the suspects now linked to the case.
Court records indicate that Masajjage fled to the Buvuma Islands, where he worked as a shoe repairer and boda boda rider under the name Brian Mubiru. He was arrested in Wandegeya in August 2023.
Kibuuka and Mugonole had already been arrested, convicted and imprisoned for unrelated offences committed after Kagezi’s murder.
Kisekka was arrested in Luwero in October 2023 over an alleged theft case. Investigators later linked him to Kagezi’s murder, leading to his cooperation with prosecutors, guilty plea and sentencing.
The original four suspects were formally brought before court in 2023 before the case proceeded to the International Crimes Division for trial.
The prosecution is expected to cross-examine Mugonole when proceedings resume. The trial is scheduled to continue in September 2026.
