By Spy Uganda
Kampala: High court in Kampala has adjourned the ruling on the bail application for the four suspects implicated in the murder of businessman Henry Katanga to February 21, 2024.
During the hearing in the packed courtroom, prosecution led by State Attorney Jonathan Muwanganya urged Justice Isaac Muwata to deny bail and schedule the trial immediately, stating the state is ready with witnesses.
Muwaganya recommended that if the judge were to consider bail, stringent conditions should be imposed, such as submitting land titles and passports to the court, ensuring sureties are bonded for no less than 100 million shillings each, and requiring weekly reporting to the registrar.
The accused, including the deceased businessman’s two daughters, Martha Nkwanzi and Patricia Kankwanzi, a shamba boy George Amanyire, and Medical Worker Charles Otai, appeared before the Criminal Division High Court Judge Isaac Muwata Monday 12 February 2024.
Nkwanzi, Kakwanza, and Molly Katanga (now a widow) were apprehended following the murder of their father at their residence on November 2, 2023. The trio is currently in remand at Luzira prison along with George Amanyire and Charles Otai.
Unlike their mother, who faces murder charges, Nkwanzi and Kakwanza applied for bail, presenting their husbands and in-laws as sureties.
Kakwanzi, the first applicant presented her husband Wilson Mwine Mukulu who deals in solar energy and her mother in law Zakye Merian Kyamanyanga, the owner of Shell Pump Fuel Station Opposite High Court, and her father-in-law Herbert Kamugisha who deals in real estate and farming as her sureties.
Represented by lawyers MacDusman Kabega, John Jet Tumwebaze, and Elison Karuhanga, the accused individuals introduced their sureties, many of whom were close relatives engaged in various businesses.
Prominent businessmen and women vouched for the accused, seeking their release on bail, and the High Court Judge is expected to deliver the ruling on the 21st of this month.
The charges against the accused include destroying evidence and being an accessory after the fact of murder, and the bail application was filed on January 10, 2024.
How The Saga Started
Katanga was found dead in his bed in Mbuya Chwa road 11 on a Thursday, November 2 2023.
The cause of his death remains controversial with his biological daughters (Martha Nkwanzi Katanga, Patricia Kakwanza) and wife Molly Bunanukye Katanga (widow now) pointing to domestic violence, while other close relatives claim that family property disputes may have led to his tragic death causing a deep division within the family.
Since the investigations and court proceedings began, key suspects in the gruesome murder including Molly Katanga, Martha Nkwanzi, Patricia Kakwanza , Dr. Charles Otai, and George Amanyire, a domestic worker at the deceased’s residence have all been remanded to Luzira Prison.
Before being formally charged, an arrest was issued against Molly Katanga after she snubbed court summons on several occasions claiming to be admitted at IHK apparently recovering from surgeries performed after she was allegedly injured during the violent fight that claimed her husband’s life.
According to prosecution, Molly Katanga, with malice aforethought, killed her husband on November 2 at Mbuya, Chwa 2, in Nakawa Division, with the help of their daughter Nkwanzi.
Furthermore, on the same day, Nkwanzi and Kakwanza are accused of removing or destroying potential evidence at the crime scene, with the intention of preventing its use in judicial proceedings.
The incident happened after an alleged misunderstanding with his wife whom he worked with at their procurement and supplies firm called MERGE which had penetrated the system and would transact with government agencies with huge classified budgets.
A police report referenced SD21/02/11/2023 at Bugolobi police station indicates that Katanga was shot at close range and that no bullets and fragments were recovered after Katanga’s body which was delivered at the city mortuary on November 2.
The report further indicates that Katanga’s body was wrapped in a mattress cover, stuffed in a vehicle, and transported to Mulago hospital mortuary.
The details of who moved the body remain a subject of ongoing police investigations.
Police said it retrieved a pistol number UG1622200061CZ99 compact that is suspected to have been used in the commission of the crime.
Shortly after his death, inside sources revealed that Katanga was allegedly murdered hours before he appended his signature on a WILL that he had prepared a week earlier and kept it in a safe box inside his office.
Sources further noted that Katanga had prepared the necessary paperwork documenting all his wealth and had only shared that secret with his sister, Naome Nyangweso and his lawyer.
At the time of his death, another source within the family revealed that Katanga had just made a transaction of shs16 billion.
“Besides working with Molly, he had other different lines of making his own money including money lending. He had so far gotten shs16 billion,” a source who preferred anonymity revealed at the time.
Katanga had been taking care of a number of orphans of his dead siblings and loved them as his own children including the two children of his sister Naome; Timothy Nyangweso and Marjorie Nyangweso.
Relatives highly anticipate that Katanga was planning to distribute all his property equally in a WILL among his biological children and other orphans which could have annoyed whoever pulled the trigger to end his life.
“The plan was to kill him that very day because there was no time to wait since he was planning to leave home and sign the papers,” another relative said.
According to Naome, Katanga’s lawyer was aware of the death threats that his client was facing and his death did not surprise him that is why he(Katanga) was racing against time to finish the WILL which was never a success.
While as Katanga could have prepared and signed the WILL a little earlier, he was busy with arrangements for giveaway and wedding functions for his foster daughter Patricia alias Tricia for over two weeks.
Tricia is among the suspects, and she was remanded to Luzira prison on murder charges. At the time of the shooting, Tricia confirmed to police that she was present and revealed how her father and mother got a misunderstanding before she heard a gunshot.
Katanga was one of the Ankole princes while his wife Molly is a relative and close confidant to key government and security officials who are allegedly trying to save her from facing murder charges. Watch the space…..
