The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
UgandaVsMollyKatanga: Pivotal State Witness Caught in Lies?
SPECIAL REPORT | ANTHONY NATIF | As recorded in court, in the case Uganda Vs Molly Katanga and adapted from @TonyNatif on X.
****
In future, this Molly Katanga case will be a rallying cry for feminists, especially on the domestic violence front and on reform of the criminal justice system.
You have men showing up in court, accusing a woman—who, court heard, suffered unimaginable domestic violence, leaving her near death—of the most heinous of crimes (murder), and when cross-examined, they’re found to be lying or, to put it lightly, “conservative with the truth”.
Yesterday, August 11th, was particularly hard to witness.
A very pivotal prosecution witness, a Regional Scene of Crime Officer (SOCO), Inspector of Police Emmanuel Ogwang, showed up in court, claimed he visited a crime scene to collect evidence.
For the uninitiated, a SOCO is the police officer who collects evidence (exhibits) that’s then processed and presented in court in order to help the prosecution prove its case.
They’re expected to meticulously record everything they see and find.
They’re expected to show a clear chain of custody of the evidence, record times and place etc.
Basically, any break in that chain can kill a case. Evidence starts and ends with them.
Truth and the verifiable proof of it are what they’re measured by.
Anyway, this man gave times of arrival and departure to court, some with great precision (like a departure time of 1:52 pm on 2/Nov/2023).
He made claims about having been at the scene of the crime with some colleagues of his around 11 am on 2/Nov/2023, a few hours after Henry Katanga died.
He seemed believable.
Problem: the prosecution witness 10, Mr Enoch Kanene, a digital forensics expert with Police had disclosed video footage from the Katanga residence on Chwa II road, Mbuya, to the defense.
After the prosecution was done leading PW21 in his evidence-in-chief, it was the defense’s turn to cross-examine him.
Jet Tumwebaze took the first bite. A huge bite! A fiery one too.
He called on the court’s IT team to play video footage from the Katanga residence that day.
They went to the time PW21 said he arrived. He was nowhere to be seen.
His colleagues, Mary Mbabazi, Bibiana Akong and Bob Kagarura, that he got to the scene were in the video footage. He wasn’t there.
They played video footage from inside the compound. His colleagues were there. He wasn’t.
They played video footage from the time he said he had left the scene.
He’s nowhere to be seen.
They played video from before and after he said he was there.
He’s nowhere to be seen.
Ditto the police truck, he said, carried evidence from the Katanga residence. That too wasn’t seen.
UgandaVsMollyKatanga: Pivotal State Witness Caught in Lies?
In future, this Molly Katanga case will be a rallying cry for feminists; especially on the domestic violence front and on reform of the criminal justice system.
You have men showing up in court, accusing a woman-who,… https://t.co/pIYHaSoWle pic.twitter.com/9xWZt4Toxm
— Anthony Natif (@TonyNatif) August 12, 2025
A visibly upset Jet Tumwebaze christened him “invisible man,” a ghost who wasn’t part of the case but magically appeared “to cover gaps in the case.”
When Tumwebaze was done, MacDusman Kabega, SC stepped up.
He asked about the custody of exhibits on the night of 2/Nov/2023, getting into 3/Nov/2023.
The gentleman wasn’t sure as to where the exhibits were. He had earlier called himself “The Custodian of Evidence.” This was at 17:26 pm.
Court broke off soon after to resume on Wednesday 13/Aug/2025 at 9:30 am for further cross-examination and then re-examination.
To Emmanuel Ogwang, this respite seemed much needed.
To me, the whole spectacle had the feeling of watching a train wreck.
It’s uncomfortable to watch but you can’t quite look away.
The prosecution will have to dig really deep to bring what looks like a train wreck of a case back on the rails.
Katanga continues to be in jail, her 4 co-accused had their bail extended till Wednesday.
*****
PS: you can find the entire session from yesterday at these two links:👇🏾
youtube.com/live/IaE-yqlhW And here youtube.com/live/nr_OIuVGD Some things have to be seen to be believed. This was one of those. Warning: content has potential to infuriate and sadden, in equal measure. #UgandaVsMollyKatanga
