A second suspect Kawawa Ramadan alias Amin in the June 1 attempted assassination of Gen Edward Katumba Wamala has been shot dead.
Katumba, a four-star General and former Chief of Defense Forces (CDF) was attacked along Kisota road in Kisasi between about 8.47 am – 9 am, where his daughter Brenda Nantongo and driver Haruna Kayondo were killed on spot when their car was sprayed with more than 56 bullets.
Deputy Inspector General of Police, Maj Gen Paul Lokech, who is the overall supervisor of the investigations team, said Amin was killed while attempting to flee from security personnel who were retrieving the two killer guns from the home of one Juma Said in Kanyogoga village, Bukasa parish, in Makindye division.
Lokech yesterday Thursday briefed the media that another suspect, Hussein Lubwama aka Master was shot dead when he attempted to fight the forces that had zeroed down on him. Security alleges that Master was the person who shot several bullets on the right side of Katumba’s military vehicle leaving Nantongo and Kayondo dead.
However, Lokech contradicted himself today Friday when he said, Master, before he was shot dead, revealed that he had given the gun to Kasambira Siriman aka Mukwasi. This raises questions of how a suspect who allegedly fought forces arresting him to the extent of being shot dead, shared such information about who was hiding the gun.
Although Lokech insists that Amin was killed at around 8 am today Friday while fleeing from Said’s home, security sources had revealed by yesterday evening that two suspects had been shot dead after the vital information had been extracted from them.
But Lokech maintains the narrative that Master’s information helped to arrest Mukwasi who later revealed that he had also handed over the gun to Amin. Amin, who is now dead, according to Lokech, first took them to Kagoma, then Nansana until Mukwasi convinced him to reveal where the guns were being hidden.
“Upon arrest, Mukwasi claimed that somebody called Amin had picked the guns from him. Amin stays in Maganjo B LC I. Upon the arrest of Amin, he claimed that he had surrendered over the gun to Juma Sserwadda a chapatti seller in Namuwongo. Amin first took us to Kagoma, he came back to Nansana, and at around 1:47 pm, he revealed Juma Sserwadda. This was after Mukwasi pushed Amin to tell us where the guns were,” Lokech said.
The investigating team proceeded to Namuwongo and arrested Sserwadda who reportedly named Said as the person who was hiding the gun. Sserwadda led the investigators to Said’s home in Kanyogoga in the same vicinity near the railway line, where he was found with his family in a two-bedroom house.
Said allegedly led the forces to the poultry house where he was keeping the guns in a hole dug inside. Lokech exhibited two SMG rifles and a pistol allegedly recovered from Said’s house. Security says the directorate of forensic science headed by Andrew Mubiru has since analyzed the bullet casings which match with those recovered from Maj Muhammad Kiggundu and former police spokesperson AIGP Andrew Felix Kaweesi murder scenes.
Maj Kiggundu was shot dead at around 6:50 am on November 26, 2016, at Masanafu, Lubaga division in Kampala while Kaweesi was assassinated on March 17, 2017, at around 9 am at Kulambiro road, in Nakawa division in Kampala. Kaweesi’s bodyguard Kenneth Erau and driver, Godfrey Mambewa were also killed in the attack.
“What is our finding of Juma Said. Our team continued to protect the scene. They continued searching the area. As I was coming to brief you, we have now known that the rider who was riding Master in an orange jacket was Juma Said. We found the jacket and helmet in the ceiling,” Lokech said.
Gen Lokech links all the suspects in the Katumba attack and the killings of Maj Kiggundu and Kaweesi to a rebel ADF terror cell commanded by one Sheikh Abudin Hubaida Taheel Bukenya allegedly on the run.
But security has not satisfactorily answered the question of why two vital unarmed suspects who could have been vital in revealing more information have been shot dead instead of shooting to maim.
