The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
SPECIAL REPORT | ANTHONY NATIF | As recorded in the case Uganda Vs Molly Katanga and adapted from @TonyNatif on X.
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This week, the High Court won’t be hearing this matter, the same having been adjourned to 24th November and then 1st to 2nd December 2025.
The hope – at least going by what we heard in court last week – is that the three hearings will see a termination of the prosecution’s case before year-end.
For Mrs Molly Katanga, she faces yet another Christmas behind the walls of Luzira Prison, for a crime she’s spent the better part of two years insisting she didn’t commit. Her hunt for justice is now spilling into year three.
From the calm, introspective demeanour she exudes on the courtroom TV screens, beaming her image via Zoom from Luzira, it doesn’t seem like her resolve is broken.
She fights on.
Anyway, the prosecution presented their 24th witness. His name: Detective Sergeant David Beteise. He was the Investigating Officer (IO) in this case.
He worked under the lead investigator, DSP Bibiana Akong, who, as it turns out, was PW23.
His was a relatively fast examination-in-chief, followed by a fast-paced cross-examination and quick re-examination, then a “thank you” from the judge and “you’re discharged”.
His witness testimony, though, left some major questions for Lady Justice Rosette Comfort Kania to resolve.
Thus far, she’s handled this matter with the adroitness of a seasoned jurist. It’s hard to tell she’s relatively new on the bench.
Coming into PW24’s testimony, PW23 had told court that as far as she knew, no fingerprints and nail clippings were ever taken from the late Henry Katanga at his residence before transfer of his body to the mortuary or at the mortuary.
The defense wasn’t buying that narrative, insisting that the prosecution was simply suppressing evidence.
They, at one time, said the prosecution most likely analyzed fingerprints and nail clippings and found the results to be adverse to their case and decided not to reveal them to the court.
PW24 gave the court a different version of events.
He said that indeed nail clippings were taken and packed at the Katanga residence but that before he could pick them for onward transfer to the lab, “they were swept away”.
He didn’t name the individual (s) who swept them away.
He then said fingerprints were also taken at the residence but they were for other parties of interest and not the deceased Katanga. He didn’t name who these parties were.
The hunt for the elusive fingerprints and nail clippings then shifted to the mortuary.
Beteise attended the post mortem at the KCCA mortuary in Mulago.
Page 5 of the PM report indicated that fingerprints and nail clippings were taken. You might have seen this PM in endless blogs and WhatsApp groups back before the start of the trial when such seemingly coordinated publications tried to pin Mrs Katanga. (See Frame 4)
When put to task by defense attorney Elison Karuhanga to explain the whereabouts of those samples and the results, Mr Beteise said; while the pathologist’s report indicated that they’d been taken by a colleague of Beteise, he wasn’t around when that happened.
At this point, the fingerprints and nail clippings trail runs cold. More questions left unanswered.
How the Learned Trial Judge resolves this potential contradiction between PW23 and PW24’s testimonies will make for interesting reading.
You might recall that the state has also not submitted Mrs Katanga’s fingerings or nail clippings.
They have however submitted DNA reports placing both Mr and Mrs Katanga’s DNA (and a 3rd profile) on the killer gun. Ditto GSR. Their experts have however told court that DNA and GSR aren’t proof that someone shot a gun.
The other point of contention was in how the state ruled out the possibility of suicide, which they’d indicated they were investigating at the start.
Karuhanga put it to Beteiste that from the time they started investigations to the time the file was sanctioned (in one day) on 21/11/2023, no new information had ruled out suicide. He seemed to agree.
Karuhanga said the state sanctioned an empty file…
