Uganda Police’s investigations into the shooting of child rights activist Kenneth Akena Watmon have stalled, choosing to hand the suspects over to state prosecutors, says an officer on the team.
The lead suspects, Matthew Kanyamunyu and his girlfriend Cynthia Munangwari have been in police custody for 168 hours, far more than the constitutional 48 hours. Two of Kanyamunyu’s brothers; Joseph and Moses were also arrested on Thursday, to help with investigations and are also still unlawfully holed up in the notorious the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) at Kireka, Kampala.
“He (Kanyamunyu) was quite apparently a serial killer since the morning of last Sunday but now all the information that there was is not enough to charge them. I’m not saying Kanyamunyu killed Akena. I’m saying that prospect has been investigated but not yielded much. Kanyamunyu protests his innocence. There’s potential for a miscarriage of justice.” the detective who preferred to be anonymous said.
He added: “Police have three scenes of crime, no murder weapon, no victim’s blood in Kanyamunyu’s car and the two lead suspects have stuck to their first statement – both denying any connection with the shooting.”
Some reports say Police has given up on the investigation after exhaustion all possible leads.
In desperation, Police spokesperson Andrew Kaweesi on Saturday said court will tomorrow (Monday) start hearing the case.
He said: “If courts sat on weekends, we would have charged them already.”
Akena reportedly gave a dying declaration to his brother claiming that he was shot dead by the very people who took him to hospital for treatment.
The IGP Gen Kale Kayihura has recommended that those responsible for the killings face charges.
Another source familiar with the investigation told us the suspected killers will be released on bail being presented in court.
RELATED: Andrew Mwenda trying to free suspected killer Kanyamunyu, says TVO
