Africa-Press – Uganda. A Ugandan policeman accused of fatally shooting an Indian moneylender at Raja Chambers on Parliamentary Avenue in Kampala has been committed to the High Court for trial.
Police Constable (PC) Ivan Wabwire was on Friday committed by the Buganda Road Chief Magistrate Ronald Kayizzi.
An indictment presented to court by prosecution led by Ivan Kyazze and signed by senior state attorney Timothy Amerit on behalf of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Jane Francis Abodo indicates that Wabwire on May 12, with malice aforethought, unlawfully killed Uttam Bhandari.
The indictment states that on May 10, 2023, PC Steven Murombo went to the armory of Central Police Station (CPS) Kampala and signed for an SMG rifle AK 47 with 120 rounds of ammunitions— to which he informed PC Nobody Mudasiri the then acting armory man that he was going to perform certain duties at Nakivubo Community Police Post and returned the said gun on May 12.
“On the same day the (May 12) at around 08:20 hours, Murombo went back and signed for the same rifle from the armory and notified Mudasiri that he was going to perform certain duties at Nakivubo Community and he was given the said rifle with 120 rounds of ammunitions. He then went with it to his room in CPS which he shared with Wabwire,” reads in part the indictment.
The DPP states that when Murombo arrived in the said residential room with the rifle which he placed under his mattress; he changed his attire to civilian clothes as he was going to seek some medical attention leaving Wabwire alone in the room.
It is further stated that “Wabwire had been informed of TFS financial services, a money lending entity where the deceased was a director and a proprietor. Wabwire secured a loan to which he defaulted in payments, leading to the accumulation of the interests thus leading to disagreements amongst the two on how much he was to pay.”
“So, startled about how he could get the deceased to amend for him a figure to pay or kill him should the deceased refuse to amend the figures, on May 12, 2023, Wabwire decided to dress up in police uniform, and picked up the gun of Murombo and went by boda boda to TFS financial services,” reads the DDP’s indictment.
“Wabwire then went to the deceased’s office and upon having a discussion with Bhandari, the policeman fired gunshots severally on the TV screen displaying the CCTV scenes and thereafter shot the deceased with several rounds of ammunition, thus killing him,” the DPP added.
The DPP intends to rely on CCTV cameras and private surveillance cameras at Raja chambers that captured Wabwire in action before leaving the scene, and returning the gun to CPS, his medical report that he was of normal mental state at the time, postmortem report of the deceased, crime scene report among others.
“A mental status report of PC Wabwire from Butabika Hospital was obtained and it was therein observed that although Wabwire was living with a chronic mental illness called schizophrenia. However, he was mentally fit to give a statement about his actions leading to the incident, able to appreciate the gravity of the act and that the residual symptoms of illness did not influence his capacity to execute his actions that resulted in the murder,” the DDP’s indictment suggests.
For More News And Analysis About Uganda Follow Africa-Press
