Severed head returned, 2nd burial for Wakiso businessman

Police said the locals provided information that led to the arrest of one Jjingo and William Kalibala. The duo, according to Owoyesigyire, also helped police to arrest their third accomplice Samuel Bahati Kitto

Namayumba, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Wakiso policing division has gone to court seeking an order allowing them to exhume the headless body of businessman, Daniel Ssanyu Nkuba, after his killers have returned his decomposed head. The murderers had taken their victim’s head to the client who hired them as proof that they had carried out the assignment successfully so as to be paid in full.

Nkuba was killed and his headless body dumped into his house barely a fortnight ago. The killers cut off the head allegedly as proof to the person who had assigned them to execute the mission. This gruesome murder happened at Ngondwe village, Namayumba sub-county, Wakiso district and it left locals fearing for their lives.

When police visited the scene, most of the locals preferred to identify themselves by one name or pseudo names explaining that what had happened to Nkuba was very scary and likely to happen to them too if they came out to pin some people responsible for his murder.

However, seven locals secretly intimated to police that Nkuba had been in a protracted land wrangle with people who claimed to be owners of the same piece of land at Ngondwe village where he had built his home.

“He often told us that there were people claiming ownership of his land. We also saw those people coming to attack him but he was saved by our presence. We didn’t know how many people were claiming this land but we know the people that were hired to attack him,” a male resident of the area told police.

Police tasked the locals to reveal the names of the suspected killers of Nkuba but they first feared to come out. However, residents of Ngondwe secretly revealed two names to homicide detectives, and the suspects were traced.

Luke Owoyesigyire, the deputy Kampala metropolitan police spokesperson, said the locals provided information that led to the arrest of one Jjingo and William Kalibala. The duo, according to Owoyesigyire, also helped police to arrest their third accomplice Samuel Bahati Kitto.

“We have these three suspects in custody and we have also recovered the head of the deceased. We are now securing a court order to exhume the body so that the head can also be buried along,” Owoyesigyire said.

The suspects have led police to recover the exhibits, particularly the machetes that were used in killing Nkuba. In addition, the suspects have reconstructed the scene from where they planned the attack up to the moment of execution.

Out of the more than 4,000 people killed in 2021, the majority were killed in domestic brawls that rotated on land wrangles, infidelity, alcohol, drugs, and failure to full family responsibilities. The land problem has also been attributed to fraudsters who sale one piece of land to more than one person and corruption in the judicial system as well as police investigators.

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