Kerry Howard Mwesigwa
In a case that shook the transport industry and sent shockwaves across the nation, the hearing of a gruesome murder trial involving two men accused of brutally murdering boda boda riders in 2019 has been delayed due to the unavailability of the trial judge. John Bosco Mugisha, known as Mukiga, and his alleged accomplice Aloysius Tamale, also called Young Mulo, appeared in court on Wednesday, only to be informed that all judges, including Justice Alex Ajiji, who had been presiding over the case, were attending the funeral of Justice Stephen Mubiru’s wife.
The accused individuals, believed to be members of the notorious Kabadia criminal gang in Kampala, were apprehended following the horrifying murder of Derrick Muwonge on June 29, 2019, a chilling incident captured on CCTV cameras in Mengo’s Kakeka area. The graphic video footage, widely disseminated on various social media platforms, depicted one of the perpetrators strangling Muwonge while his accomplice repeatedly struck him on the head with a claw hammer. The motive behind these heinous acts was the theft of the victims’ motorcycles. In addition to Muwonge’s murder, Mugisha and Tamale, along with other accomplices who remain at large, are also accused of killing another boda boda rider, Damiano Sekalala, on April 29, 2019, in the Luvuma zone of Makindye Division’s Kizungu area. Prosecutors assert that the assailants targeted their victims, primarily boda boda riders, with the intent to strangle them as part of the Kabadia gang’s ruthless modus operandi. The trial was adjourned to June 5 to allow for the presentation of prosecution witnesses.
