Just In: Police Arrest Suspected SPC Killers with Stolen Gun

Police have arrested three suspects with the firearm that was stolen from a Special Police Constable who was killed while guarding the Electoral Commission offices in Kabale municipality last week.    

The suspects are 27-year-old Paul Dusingizimana alias Never Give Up, a resident of Murambi village in Rwaramba Parish in Nyakinama Sub county, Mugisha Asiimwe Mkwenda alias Young from Gatete village in Mukabaya parish Muroora Sub County both from Kisoro District and Bosco Twinomujuni from Kujuguta Ward in Northern Division of Kabale Municipality.  

The trio is said to have been behind the brutal murder of 59-year-old Gracious Baryabakabu in the night of January 29th, 2021. Baryabakabu was found dead by his colleague who had come to relieve him of duty in the morning.

His SMG rifle No 565824456 with 30 rounds of ammunition was taken by the assailants who dumped his lifeless body in a sentry house, a short distance from his work station. The deceased’s body was found with numerous injuries on the face.

A police report indicates that the assailants used a sharp object to pierce the deceased deep on the forehead before fastening his arms and legs with a rubber rope. After surveying the scene of crime, Police officers backed by UPDF soldiers from the 19th Battalion in Kabale District launched a joint search for the killers and missing gun. 

An officer told URN on condition of anonymity that they conducted a search in all the bushes and tree plantations within 500 meters from the Electoral Commission offices in Makanga Cell in Central Division, Kabale Municipality.    

Ely Maate, the Kigezi Region Police Spokesperson, says the suspects were arrested on Saturday after tracking them for two days. He explains that Mukwenda was the first to be arrested and provided information leading to the arrest of his accomplices.

Maate says the suspects confessed to the murder of Baryabakabu and led officers to the spot where they were hiding the gun.

Paul Dusingizimana alias Never Give Up, one of the suspects confessed to URN in an interview that he patterned with Mukwenda to kill Baryabakabu. He says that they had gone to steal valuables from the Electoral Commission and they killed the SPC when he came out of the guardhouse.

“We used a stone to hit him on the head and decided to take the gun for future use,” he said.    

Dusingizimana exonerated Bosco Twinomujuni, a Boda boda rider from Kabale municipality, saying he is only a victim of circumstances. He explained that Twinomujuni didn’t know that they are thieves when he started transporting them around Kabale Town.