Please return my husband, missing Hamza Mwebe’s wife pleads to govt 

On the veranda of the late Hajj Gasane’s house in Kabembe trading centre, Kyampisi sub-county in Mukono district, sits Mariam Wamahoro aged just 33.

Following the arrest of her husband, Hamza Mwebe in 2018, Wamahoro moved into her father-in-law’s home now more than three years back. Mwebe, the father of six children was arrested on suspicion of aiding the murder of former Buyende district police commander Muhammad Kirumira and his friend Resty Mbabazi Nalinya. Mwebe is accused of trailing Kirumira and informing his murderers, who eventually showered him and Nalinya with bullets on September 8, 2018, in Bulenga, Wakiso district.

Mwebe stayed on remand in Kitalya prison before he and his erstwhile co-accused, Abubakar Kalungi, were tried for murder in September 2022 at the High court in Kampala. High court justice Margaret Mutonyi declared on December 23, 2022, that while Kalungi had a case to answer, Mwebe didn’t.

The prosecution had not adequately demonstrated why and how Mwebe was arrested, the judge ruled. Phone call records and other evidence presented in court were only implicating Kalungi and Abdulrahman Kateregga, who was allegedly responsible for shooting dead Kirumira and Nalinya.

Upon acquittal, Mwebe’s lawyer, Zefania Zimbe notified Wamhoro of her husband’s release, sending the family into a temporary celebratory mood. Shortly after, the lawyer called to tell her that Mwebe had been arrested again by plain-clothed men riding in the infamous drone (Toyota Hiace) van as he exited the court premises.

The following day, Wamahoro and a few family members went to the central police station (CPS) to ask about Mwebe’s location with the assistance of his attorney. One of the men travelling in the drone had reportedly stated that they were taking Mwebe to CPS. She says that despite checking the cells’ registry and the cells themselves, Mwebe was not found. While wiping away tears, Wamahoro describes their despair at not being able to find her husband.   

Wamahoro is yet to give up on the search but is currently stuck on where to look. She says she doesn’t even have the money to transport her to CPS or other security facilities to search for her husband. She would need at least Shs 15,000 in transport fares for each round trip to the city centre.

Wamahoro is a subsistence farmer who occasionally sews clothes with her machine which she stations in their home compound. She has failed to facilitate Mwebe’s lawyer with transport and is worried, he could also give up on him soon. Wamahoro’s financial worries are not limited to the search for her husband, but also sustaining her family. She says her children are often sent home from school over defaulting on school fees. Her sixteen-year-old son is still in primary six because he never settles in school due to nonpayment of fees.

Her elder son, Shadad Hamza says life is so difficult without their father. Apart from the financial struggles they go through, they are seen as outcasts by some. She wants whoever has their dad to release him such that he returns to his family. Mwebe’s mother, Jajja (grandmother) as she’s referred to by several grandchildren says she has left everything in the hands of God. Mrs Gasane who appears to be in her late 80s says all she can do is pray and help where she can in sustaining the family. However, she also looks so frail and complains of joint pains common among the elderly.

Mwebe is not the first person to be re-arrested after being freed by the court after being acquitted or granted bail. In November 2017, Ahmed Senfuka, one of the seven people suspected of the murder of former police spokesperson AIGP Andrew Felix Kaweesi was brutally re-arrested after Nakawa court magistrate Noah Sajjabi granted him bail. In 2019, another group of four suspects in the same murder case were re-arrested from court premises shortly after they were released on bail by justice Lydia Mugambe.

In 2016, then High court judge now chief justice Alfonse Chigamoy Owiny-Dollo acquitted five men who were part of the 13 suspects charged with offences relating to the Kampala twin bombings at Kyadondo Rugby Grounds and Ethiopian Village restaurant, Kabalagala where people watched on big screens, the 2010 World Cup finals between Netherlands and Spain in South Africa. 

The police first kept the suspects, saying that they couldn’t immediately release them for their own safety for fear that they would be attacked by families of the dead who might be discontent with the ruling. However, barely a week later, police charged them before the Chief Magistrate’s court in Jinja district with what police referred to as fresh allegations of terrorism.

The same happened in November 2010 when the court acquitted 18 suspected charged with taking part in the same twin bombings after the prosecution told the court that their investigations found that they were not involved in the attack. 

However, three acquitted suspects, Christopher Baturaine, Issa Ali Senkumba and Abdulahi Muhamed were immediately rearrested and taken to an undisclosed location. It’s now more than a fortnight since Mwebe was taken. Both the police and the army denied having him in their custody.