Same gun killed muslim clerics and Kagezi

By Ruth Anderah

A government ballistic expert has told the International Crimes Division of the High Court that that the two slain Muslim sheikhs; Mustafa Bahiga, Hassan Ibrahim Kirya and slain senior Principle State Attorney Joan Kagezi were murdered using bullets fired by the same gun, an AK-47.

Robinah Kirinya has appeared as prosecution witness number ten in a murder case against 14 suspects including the leader of the Tabliq sect Yunus Kamoga and his brother Siraje Kawooya.

The suspects are accused of engineering the murder of sheikhs Bahiga and Hassan Kirya.

Sheikh Bahiga was murdered from Bwebajja Mosque in December 2014, Sheikh Kirya was murdered in Bweyogere in July 2015 whereas Kagezi who was the lead prosecutor in the 2010 twin bombings case was shot dead in Kiwatule on March 30th /2015.

Kirinya has testfied that between January and October 2015, while at the Government analytical Laboratory in Wandegeya, she received instructions from Kajjansi Bweyogerere and Kiwatule police stations respectively to examine bullet cartridges to establish the make and probable type of rifle that could have fired them.

Kirinya has told court that basing on the similarities regarding the relative position of shooting and an indication of possible common origin of the cartridges, she was able to conclude that the three murders were committed using the same gun.

The expert concluded that the cartridges were fired by an AK-47 gun and it’s variants manufactured in different years but could not ably establish the manufacturer of the guns due to limited materials.

She further testified that police also asked her to establish whether the same riffle was used to fire bullets that killed other Shiekhs in Mayuge district, Old Kampala and Matugga between 2013 and 2014.

However Kirinya said she found no similarity and relation to cartridges used in those other murders.

The ballistic expert’s four reports containing her findings and conclusions and the bullet cartridges have been tendered in court as exhibits.

Written by David Kugonza