Wife and Son Arrested Over Killing of Family Head

Police in Mukono District have arrested a woman, her son, and a son-in-law on suspicion of murdering her husband, Charles Kisekka. 

Kisekka, 56, had been reported missing over the weekend until a search team discovered his body dumped in a swamp in Kitebe Village, Nazigo Parish, Nakisunga Sub-county in Mukono District.

According to police, Kisekka was strangled to death. The incident was reportedly revealed by two of the youngest children, aged seven and nine, who said the killing was carried out by the deceased’s eldest son, Kiberu, and his son-in-law, Makumbi, with the support of the wife. Trouble reportedly started after one of Kisekka’s daughters introduced Makumbi to him as the man she intended to marry. 

Makumbi reportedly confessed to residents that the mother-in-law had hatched a plan to eliminate Kisekka, claiming he was an obstacle to her daughter’s marriage. “Mzee rejected me as a son-in-law. My mother-in-law welcomed me, but we could not proceed when Mzee refused to embrace our relationship. My mother-in-law told us to find a solution. His eldest son and I strangled him,” he stated.

Kiberu allegedly explained to investigators that after killing Kisekka, their mother brought two sacks from a shop in which they wrapped the body. He said they later transported the body on the deceased’s motorcycle late at night to a nearby hill, from where they rolled it into a swamp. “My mother gave us sacks, and we wrapped the body in them. We even stitched the top to make it appear like ordinary luggage. We rode the body on a motorcycle very late at night and dumped it,” Kiberu reportedly told Mukono detectives. 

Residents said they initially believed the body discovered in the swamp belonged to an unidentified person. However, suspicions arose after they noticed that Kisekka had been missing while his wife, Kiberu, and Makumbi were seen riding his motorcycle. “We became suspicious. We asked one of the youngest children where their father was. He told us that Kiberu and Makumbi had killed him and wrapped the body in sacks. That is when we realized that the body that had been recovered belonged to our neighbour,” a resident, Mukasa, said.

Rachael Kawala, the Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson, said the widow, Kiberu, and Makumbi have been arrested. She added that the other children have also been picked up to help provide information that could assist in the prosecution of the suspects. Police have since preferred murder charges against the widow, Kiberu, and Makumbi. 

According to Kawala, detectives are still compiling evidence to establish all possible motives behind the killing.