The police are holding a driver and two others in relation to the tragic murder by shooting of Isma Ibrahim Tusubira alias Olexis alias Jaja Iculi, a video blogger, music and political analyst, which occurred on May 6, 2023, at around 9:15 pm, near his home at Kyanja Central Zone.
SCP Enanga Fred, Police Spokesperson, said the Joint Task Team of security experts from CID, Crime Intelligence, Forensics, IT and KMP Territorial Units teams are gathering evidence and interviewing witnesses to help determine the circumstances of the case.
“What we can confirm is that it was not a random attack but a targeted incident, where two assailants armed with one pistol, emerged from their hide-out near his gate, and fired multiple shots, killing him instantly from the passenger seat,” said Enanga.
He said Iculi’s driver, Wasswa Mathias, remained unscathed, without any injuries despite the bullets, which riddled the driver’s side.
He is still in protective custody with two other suspects, helping out with certain lines of inquiry.
The two assailants escaped on foot up to the main road and got away on a motorcycle that was waiting for them.
The K9 dog stopped at that point. One glove was also recovered by the K9.
“We are also reviewing the entire movement of the victim, and his driver from Munyonyo at around 4 pm via the Entebbe Expressway, the stopover and dinner at Nyakana’s bar in Mutungo, where they left at around 8:15 pm for his home. We have established, that along the way, the victim received a phone call, and asked the driver to park aside near the Munyonyo roundabout, to wait for the person behind the phone call.”
He did not appear and they drove on. They reached the gate to the victim’s residence at around 9:15 pm where they were attacked and the victim shot dead.
It’s not clear whether the caller is linked to the masterminds of the murder or not, but investigations will establish in due course.
At this stage, the motive of the murder is yet to be established.
“The rampant speculation about the murder, by different bloggers, netizens, and the media, continues to do a disservice to the family and the public because it put out versions that have not been verified. Although some of his videos were controversial, we are yet to establish, whether his murder is related to his social media work or other motives,” noted Enanga.
He added: “Our thoughts continue to be with his immediate family, friends, relatives and all well-wishers who were affected by the sad incident. Our task team is working diligently in trying to identify the persons responsible for the violent murder and bring them to book.”