Ritual murderer Kajubi acquitted

By Hillary Nsambu and Ali Mambule
THE High Court in Masaka has cleared Godfrey Kato-Kajubi of murder and freed him. Kajubi, a well-known city tycoon, has been on trial for the suspected sacrifice of a-12-year-old boy, Joseph Kasirye, who was murdered on October 27, 2008 at Kayugi village, Mukungwe sub-county in Masaka district.

Justice Moses Mukiibi, who has been trying the case since August last year, told a packed court yesterday that the prosecution had failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt. And its two principal witnesses, Umar Kateregga and his wife Mariam Nabukeera were unreliable.
After the judge delivered his ruling, Kajubi wiped his face with a handkerchief and smiled. He was later led out of the dock by prison warders, through the backdoor of the court to the prisons’ vehicle. Kajubi, who previously sat in the back of the prison’s pick-up truck, was allowed to sit in the front this time.

A handful of people in the courtroom clapped after Kajubi was acquitted, while the rest showed disappointment. None of Kasirye’s relatives was present.

“This court has found major contradictions in the evidence given by the prosecution witnesses. It has been shown that the witnesses told court lies about the killing of the victim, Joseph Kasirye.
“By law, this court is entitled to reject the evidence of those witnesses. The prosecution evidence is so unreliable that no reasonable tribunal can safely convict the accused on it. The accused is set free forthwith and should be released from jail unless he is held on other lawful charges,” the judge ruled.

Initially Kajubi, Kateregga and his wife, Nabukeera, had been jointly indicted for the murder of Joseph Kasirye. But, the Director of Public Prosecution dropped the charge against Kateregga and Nabukeera, saying their case would be handled later. They were released from prison.
The judge noted new evidence that had been introduced in the prosecution case when it was said that the LC officials and the residents had found a 10-litre jerrycan and some of Kateregga’s clothes during a search.

Kateregga told court that Kajubi came with a polythene bag, a basin and a panga that were used to cut off the boy’s head and genitals, and the boy’s blood was drained in the basin, which was later put into a three-litre jerrycan.

“But a 10-litre jerrycan which belonged to Kasirye and Kateregga’s blood-stained clothes were found in Kateregga’s house, which confirms that Kateregga killed the boy,” Justice Mukiibi said.
Principal state attorney Vincent Wagona had requested the judge to consider truth in Kateregga’s testimony because it was supported by the telephone printout.

“The version of the killing of Kasirye introduced by the evidence of Paul Kasirye, which shows a blood stained 10-litre jerrycan and blood on Kateregga’s clothes is parallel to and cannot be reconciled with the version narrated to court by Kateregga,” Mukiibi read in his ruling.
Mukiibi explained that the evidence of the blood stained jerrycan and clothes belonging to Kateregga found in his house were enough evidence to prove that Kateregga deliberately told court lies when he narrated how one Stephen acting on Kajubi’s instruction cut off Kasirye’s head and genitals.

“Even Kateregga’s evidence that Kajubi assisted Stephen to lift Kasirye’s body to collect his blood in a basin was a naked lie,” Mukiibi said adding that there was no reasonable explanation that has been given to Kateregga’s lies.

Mcdusman Kabega who represented Kajubi, said he was not convinced with the prosecution’s behaviour. “The prosecution would not have released the murderers of the boy and instead held a wrong person in the names of Kajubi,” Kabega said.

Kajubi was being accused of conniving with traditional herbalist Kateregga and Kateregga’s wife Nabukeera to behead Kasirye in what was termed as child sacrifice on October 27, 2010.
Kasirye was living with his grandfather Matia Mulondo at the time he met his death.

CHRONOLOGY OF THE CASE
October 19, 2008 A witchdoctor, Umaru Kateregga, and his wife, Mariam Nabukeera, made a statement at Masaka Central Police Station, alleging they had beheaded Kasirye on Kajubi’s request. The couple said they were promised sh12m, but Kajubi paid them only sh350,000. He pledged to pay the rest if they provided three more heads.

November 24, 2008: Police announces that Kajubi is a wanted man, giving phone numbers the public could use to report his whereabouts.

November 25, 2008: Police announces that it had received reports that Kajubi could have fled the country. A South Africa-based informant told the Police that Kajubi could be in Johannesburg. Another source indicated that the tycoon, who owns houses in Johannesburg, could be in Denmark where he has a family.

November 26, 2008: Kajubi gives himself up to the Police, but refutes the allegations against him. Although he admitted knowing Kateregga, Kajubi denied asking them to be-head Kasirye. It emerged that Kajubi has shrines in Masaka.

November 28, 2008: Police say they are confident they would secure a conviction against Kajubi. CID spokesperson, Fred Enanga, said there was evidence to show that Kajubi practises witchcraft. CID head, Okoth Ochola said: “We investigate with the intention of securing a conviction.”

December 3, 2008: Kajubi weeps when he appears before the Masaka Chief Magistrate Court. This was after the prosecutor told court that he killed Kasirye. Kasirye’s father, Joseph Mugwanya, expressed skepticism about a conviction. “I wonder whether there shall be justice in this case,” he said.

January 4, 2009: Internal affairs state minister Matia Kasaija says Government was giving Kajubi extra protection following alleged threats to his life. Kasaija was responding to a question as to why Kajubi was being transported to court in tinted vehicles and his case mentioned in the magistrate’s chambers, not in the open court.

June 26, 2009: Justice Mukiibi again rejects Kajubi’s bail application, saying Kajubi failed to prove he had complicated diseases which necessitated him to get bail. The first was rejected in February after he failed to prove he was of advanced age.

March 11, 2010: Hearing of the case resumes in the High Court at Masaka. Justice Mukiibi, had earlier adjourned it.

March 30, 2010: Justice Mukiibi, is shocked by the photographs of the beheaded victim when they were tendered in court as prosecution’s evidence. Mukiibi also observed that some Police officers at Masaka Central Police Station had talked to Kajubi on phone before his arrest.