(Kampala) – The prime suspect in the murder of Ndiga Clan leader, Engineer Daniel Kakeedo Bbosa, has been formally charged and remanded to Luzira Prison. Luggya Tabula, who has confessed to the crime, appeared before the Nateete/Lubaga Chief Magistrates’ Court on Monday, August 26, 2024. He is now the sixth suspect to be remanded in connection with the case, joining five others already in custody.
During the court proceedings, Grade One Magistrate Adams Byarugaba read the charge of murder to Tabula. However, Tabula was not allowed to enter a plea, as the magistrate explained that the court lacks the jurisdiction to handle capital offenses such as murder. Magistrate Byarugaba informed the accused that he has the right to apply for bail in the High Court but ordered him to remain in custody until October 3, 2024, when the case will be mentioned again.
State prosecutor Caroline Mpumwire requested the court to amend the charge sheet to include Tabula as a defendant. She further informed the court that investigations into the murder case have been completed, and the suspects will be committed to the High Court for trial during their next appearance. Mpumwire requested an adjournment to prepare the necessary committal papers.
Last Friday, Tabula voluntarily provided an extra-judicial statement, confessing to planning Bbosa’s murder. He cited three reasons for his actions: revenge for his father’s murder in 1989, opposition to the sale of Ndiga clan land in Mbale-Mpigi, and retaliation for being prevented from acquiring ownership of his ancestral land in Namulonge. In court, Tabula reiterated his confession, stating that he did not regret hiring the two killers, one of whom is now deceased, and the other, his nephew Noah Luggya, is already facing murder charges. Tabula acknowledged the wrongfulness of murder but claimed he was acting to protect his ancestors’ land and vowed to reclaim it, either personally or through his lineage.
Police arrested Tabula from his hideout in Kimelika-Namulonge, Busukuma sub-county, Wakiso district, on July 30, 2024. During the arrest, police recovered suspected human remains, including 17 skulls, from shrines allegedly belonging to Tabula in Kabanga village, Mpigi district. The discovery was made following a tip-off from a resident who grew suspicious of a metallic suitcase seen at one of the shrines.
Tabula is accused of masterminding the shooting that killed Ndiga clan head Bbosa on February 25, 2024, in Kikandwa Lungujja, Rubaga division, Kampala. The charge sheet details that Tabula is a mason from Kabanga village in Mpigi town council, while his co-accused include Milly Naluwooza, a court secretary from Kisekwa; Harriet Nakiguli, a peasant from Nkere zone in Kawempe division; Joseph Nakabale, a painter from Gala village in Mpigi town council; and Ezra Mayanja, a resident of Kiganda zone in Kawempe division, Kampala district.
The suspects face charges of murder, as defined under sections 188 and 189 of the Penal Code Act Cap 120. If convicted, the offense of murder carries a maximum sentence of death.
The prosecution alleges that on February 25, 2024, the accused, along with others still at large, unlawfully caused the death of Bbosa with malice aforethought in Kikandwa Lungujja, Rubaga division, Kampala district.
In a related development, on March 4, 2024, President Yoweri Museveni awarded Abdul Katabaazi the Nalubaale medal for his role in capturing Bbosa’s killers. Katabaazi, a plumber and motorcycle rider from Kikandwa Zone, Lungujja, Rubaga Division, pursued and apprehended the assailants who shot Bbosa as he approached his home in Kikandwa Zone, Lungujja. Bbosa, aged 72, was also the director of Transa Electrical and was murdered in his car during the attack.
