Kagezi murder: Agasirwe and Minaana protest, demand for expedited trial

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The Senior Superintendent of Police Nickson Agasirwe and former Flying Squad Unit operative Abdul Noor Ssemujju, alias Minaana, have again protested what they termed as delays in the commencement of their trial over the alleged murder of Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Joan Kagezi.

It is alleged that Agasirwe, Minaana and others, still at large on March 30, 2015, at Kiwatule in Nakawa Division, with malice aforethought, caused the death of Kagezi.

Kagezi was shot dead at about 7:15pm on March 30, 2015, in Kiwatule, a Kampala suburb, as she drove home with her children.



Agasirwe, who is also the former commander of the disbanded Special Operations Unit and Minaana, who describes himself as a peasant, are battling charges of murder. The offence of murder attracts a maximum sentence of death upon conviction.

When the case resumed today (November 5), defence lawyer Michael Akampulira informed the court presided over by Grade One Magistrate Daphine Ayebare that the accused have spent 134 days in custody, yet investigations into the matter are incomplete.

“Our clients are not being accorded a fair trial. The Constitution requires that accused persons be tried expeditiously, but what we are witnessing are unnecessary delays by the prosecution,” he observed.

The lawyer noted that during every court appearance, the accused are informed that investigations are still ongoing and that committal to the High Court will happen at the next session, a promise that has been repeatedly deferred.

Akampulira asked the court to compel the prosecution to ensure that the matter is sent to the High Court so that his clients can have an opportunity to defend themselves.

He reminded the court that during the previous session (October 15), the magistrate had warned the prosecution to handle the case expeditiously.

The defence’s protest followed submission by State Attorney Mariam Kuruthum, representing Chief State Attorney Richard Birivumbuka, who asked for an adjournment, saying the prosecution is still preparing committal papers to forward the case to the High Court for trial.

In response, the magistrate reiterated that her court lacks jurisdiction over the case because it involves a capital offence.

She said the duty of the court is to mention the matter until the accused are committed to the High Court to stand trial.

“This court’s role is limited to mentioning the case until the accused are committed to the High Court for trial,” Magistrate Ayebare said.

She added that, “If there are any prayers to be made, they should be raised before the High Court, which has jurisdiction to handle the case. Nevertheless, the prosecution has indicated that committal will be done at the next appearance.”

The magistrate adjourned the matter to November 19, 2025.

Agasirwe, Minaana’s arrest 

Agasirwe was arrested on May 21 this year, after a convicted former Uganda Peoples Defence Forces soldier, Daniel Kiwanuka Kisekka, told the court that a senior government official named “Nixon” allegedly financed Kagezi’s murder.

The 43-year-old Kisekka was handed a 35-year prison term by the International Crimes Division of the High Court in Kampala upon his plea of guilty in the murder of Kagezi.

However, John Kibuuka aka Musa, John Massajjage aka Mubiru Brian and Nasur Abdallah Mugonole, who are on remand in Luzira Prison, have since denied killing Kagezi. They are on trial before a panel of four judges led by Michael Elubu.

Meanwhile, Minaana, who was arrested in 2017 over the Kagezi murder and later released, was picked up on June 24, this year, by Criminal Investigations Directorate detectives from his home in Galilaya, Kayunga district.

At the time of Kagezi’s killing, Minaana, who joined the Police in an unstructured setting in 2007, was a field operative with the flying squad, and he then worked closely with Agasirwe.

Investigators also discovered that Minaana operated a garage just 600 metres from the crime scene, which sources now allege may have served as a surveillance or planning point.

Earlier investigations carried out jointly by the then Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence, now rebranded as Defence Intelligence and Security, the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the United Kingdom’s Scotland Yard flagged the suspicious presence of several known police operatives at the murder scene on the night Kagezi was killed.