By Dean Lubowa Saava
Gano Mazima Investigative Desk.
Following counsel Ahmed Kalule’s abrupt abandonment without a satisfactory explanation, former Flying Squad commander Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Nixon Agasirwe Karuhanga has hired another senior city lawyer to contest a death sentence from murder charges slapped on him by the outgoing Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Justice Jane Frances Abodo.
Agasirwe is accused of masterminding the murder of celebrated Assistant Director of Public Prosecution Joan Namazzi Kagezi in 2015. At the time of her death, Kagezi was the leading prosecutor in the case involving suspects linked to the 2010 twin Kabalagala and Lugogo bomb blasts.
Highly placed sources close to counsel Kalule revealed to this investigative media house, TV10 Gano Mazima, that after studying the evidence on record, he decided to withdraw from the matter citing personal reasons. For the last three months, Agasirwe has been appearing before Nakawa Chief Magistrate Court without a lawyer as he awaits his committal to the Crimes War Division of the High Court for his trial.
Agasirwe, through his family members, has now approached a number of lawyers to represent him, but most of them have declined to take instructions. It was not until counsel Michael Akampurira, a known city commercial lawyer, accepted the instructions.
Akampurira is among the personal lawyers of former Prime Minister John Patrick Mbabazi and was involved in prosecuting the 2016 presidential elections petition his client Mbabazi filed against President Museveni.
In his maiden appearance, where he represented Agasirwe, Akampurira told the presiding magistrate, Daphine Ayebare, that his client’s rights were being violated by ruthless State Attorney Richard Birivumbuka, who refused to disclose the charge sheet containing the charges Agasirwe is facing.
“Your worship, since the accused was first brought to court, he asked to be furnished with a copy of the charge sheet. It has not been done. Without it, the accused cannot know the allegations against him and is therefore unable to formulate a defense. It is my humble prayer that the State be ordered to furnish the charge sheet in the interest of justice,” Akampurira stated.
He insisted that his client was arrested on hearsay and that the State is struggling to pin him without evidence. However, Birivumbuka assured the court that investigations are in their conclusive state and that he will come with the committal papers in the next appearance. He wondered why counsel Akampurira and his client are panicking, knowing that they still have time to prepare evidence before committing the accused to the High Court.
This investigative media house, TV10 Gano Mazima, has established that the committal papers were delayed because the DPP and other investigators are still studying the evidence, as there is a possibility of arresting other suspects who were close to Agasirwe during the time the murder was committed.
Some of the suspects under scrutiny are former police operatives who were used by former Inspector General of Police Gen. Kale Kayihura to gather intelligence information from the public, business people, and former policemen.
This investigative media house has also established from Upper Prison Luzira that Agasirwe spends much of his time comforting his co-accused, Abdul Noor Ssemujju alias Minana, not to be desperate and to allow himself not to be used as a state witness to testify against them. Sources further revealed that Ssemujju spends most of his time complaining that he was betrayed by the people he worked for to get money and power, yet they cannot even get him a good lawyer.
“Whatever you saw Ssemujju uttering in court during their last appearance was due to the anger he has against some people, including Agasirwe, who he accuses of hiring a lawyer to represent him and leaving him unrepresented. They even nearly fought in the car when going back to prison from court on Wednesday,” a prison source told this investigative media house.
The Crimes War Division of the High Court judges suspended the hearing of the Kagezi murder trial after the shocking testimony of the star witness, Daniel Kisekka, who alleged that a top government official paid him and another suspect to kill Kagezi.
Kisekka told the court that the said government official was driving a government car with red number plates. Lino Anguzo, the leading prosecutor in the case, pleaded for an adjournment because they wanted to amend the charge sheet and add other suspects to the list.
Kisekka, a UPDF deserter, pleaded guilty to the charges against him and applied for plea bargaining. His prayer was granted, and he was sentenced to 35 years’ imprisonment but agreed to be a state witness in the matter during the negotiations to enter a plea bargain.
