By Aggrey Baba
Eight years after former Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIGP) Andrew Felix Kaweesi was killed, emerging details show that a key report from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has been hidden, and may be part of the reason the case has stalled.
Kaweesi was shot dead in 2017, along with his bodyguard Corporal Erau Kenneth and driver Constable Godfrey Mambewa, just outside his home in Kulambiro, Kampala, with killers escaping on motorcycles and have never been brought to justice.
Now, as security reopen the case, sources have revealed that the FBI completed a forensic report after analyzing evidence submitted by the Uganda Police. However, the report (according to Monday Vision) was never shared with the investigating officers.
The FBI received and tested items such as bullets, cartridges, a magazine, and a memory card, under lab number 201-on-5, dated June 8, 2017, where the case was listed as SG-GN-2145960, according to latest reporting by state-owned Vision. But despite the report being completed, it was never acted upon.
The fact that the report was hidden raises serious questions. Who had access to it and why was it kept away?
Investigators also collected fingerprints from Kaweesi’s car and compared them with those of 38 suspects. However, the Directorate of Forensic Services said the fingerprints were too poor to match because they lacked clear ridges.
In another shocking twist, two motorcycles believed to have been used by the attackers were found with Police registration numbers: UP 3909 and UP 0734. The fact that Police motorcycles were used in this murder is very worrying.
These motorcycles, along with five other vehicles (including the one Kaweesi was using) are still parked at Police headquarters in Naguru, with some still have bullet holes and punctured tyres.
After the killing, 22 suspects (most of them Muslim clerics) were arrested, were accused of being part of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a rebel group. But in 2021, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Jane Frances Abodo, dropped charges against 11 of them, sending only eight to the High Court for trial, but they have never been tried. Among them is Abdul-Rashid Mbaziira, who allegedly confessed to taking part in planning the murder. He reportedly said Kaweesi was on an ADF hit list, and named others who were involved.
Mbaziira was arrested on a bus in Kasese while heading to Mpondwe, a known route used by ADF rebels to enter Congo.
At some point, the Internal Security Organisation (ISO) also carried out its own investigation, linking some senior army and Police officers to the murder. But when a joint team reviewed the ISO findings, they said there wasn’t enough evidence to pin anyone. Instead of bringing clarity, the ISO report led to more confusion and disagreements within the security forces, with some officers accusing each other of trying to hide the truth.
As the case drags on, the missing FBI report has become a key concern and many now believe it could have helped unlock the truth behind the murder (if only it had reached the right hands).
The file on Kaweesi’s murder may still be open, but justice seems far from being served as long as critical evidence remains buried. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
