The Director of the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) , AIGP Tom Magambo, has informed the President that they have good leads of the people who paid the suspects to murder Ms. Joan Kagezi.
“Your Excellency, I want to assure you that we have good leads on the people who paid these people and sent them and Your Excellency, we are going to brief you. We now know them,” AIGP Magambo said, while responding to President Museveni’s inquiry on whether the CID now knows the people who sent the suspects.
This was during the 7th Joan Kagezi Memorial Lecture at Kololo Ceremonial Grounds.
“I was participating in the hunt of these people but I remember these people saying that they were sent by some people. Have you got those people who sent them; the suspects?” the President inquired.
President Museveni cautioned security agencies against beating suspects because they may confess in order to avoid the action being taken against them.
“In fact in that case you end up not following the real culprit and go for this person who has just said “I’m the one” just because he is about to die,” he said.
At the same event, the President further assured the state prosecutors that the government had started solving their welfare issues.
“Those who used to say that working for the government as a lawyer has no benefits, they will find in future that they missed the bus.”
The Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Anita Among said they had gathered to celebrate the late Kagezi who was a great lady and a servant of Uganda.
“She paid an ultimate price while diligently serving this country which she called her home. Joan Kagezi was one of the committed prosecutors whose dedication was cut short on 30th of March, 2015. Today we gather here to remember the legacy that Joan left behind and to inspire and influence the cause of justice of our nation which Your Excellency has led diligently and we appreciate you,” the Speaker said.
The Chief Justice, His Lordship, Alfonse Owiny-Dollo thanked the DPP for organising the institutional memorial of which the late Kagezi deserves profoundly.
“I was the trial judge in the 2010 bombing case which the late Kagezi was handling as the prosecutor. I’m very glad to hear that some people have been arrested in her murder but let me make it very clear that the ones arrested are not the killers of Joan Kagezi but they are suspects; the people whose cases are in the courts of law and they are entitled to the presumption of innocence. the due process will be followed,” Justice Dollo said.
“Your Excellency, the killing of Joan Kagezi brings out the vail that we have in our modern day of life. In the African setting, it is unthinkable to take the women’s life even in war,” he added.
The Director of Public Prosecutions, Ms. Jane Frances Abodo described the late Joan Kagezi as an ideal prosecutor who had the passion for the administration of justice.
She said the late Kagezi died while in the line of duty and she handled high profile cases in the country such as that of Aggrey Kiyingi, Akbar Godi, among others.
“She was instrumental in the setting up of the International Crimes Division of the Office of the DPP. As you may recall Your Excellency, by the time she was gunned down, she was handling the 2010 Kampala bombing case. It is against this Background, that we are meeting here to honour the life and work of Joan Kagezi,” Ms. Abodo noted.
“This year’s memorial lecture is more significant to us because on the 6th November 2023, the four suspects linked to the brutal murder of Joan were arraigned before Court. We thank you, Your Excellency, for your tireless efforts and guidance in ensuring that these suspects were arrested. Through Your Excellency the DPP takes this opportunity to thank the security agencies for their valuable assistance in conducting the investigations in Joan’s case.”