Four Police men attached to Nyabwishenya police station in Kisoro district and two civilians were on Friday arraigned before the court, charged with the murder of a Congolese.
he civilians were charged with murder contrary to Sections 171 and 172 of the Penal Code Act. Police men charged with being accessories after the fact to murder, contrary to Section 189 of the Penal Code Act Cap 128.
The suspects were not allowed to take a plea on the charges since the court has no jurisdiction to handle the matter.
Kisoro Chief Magistrate, His Worship Patrick Bamuhiga, remanded the accused to Kisoro government prison until 28th May 2026 for further mention
The accused are Corporal Wickliffe Musabimana, the officer-in-charge of Nyabwishenya Police Station, Police Constables Apeti Kizito and Moris Yebuze. Civilians are Hakuzimana Mpumuseni and Nsabimana John Bosco.
According to Kisoro District State Prosecutor, Ellen Nambi, the deceased, identified as Uwimana Ntirenganya, died in police cells on Thursday, May 7, 2026, at around 8:00 am.
It is alleged that on Wednesday, May 6, 2026, at around 9:00 pm, Uwimana was drinking alcohol on the Ugandan side of the border with a group led by John Bosco Nsabimana and Mpunuseni Hakuzimana, both residents of Nyabwishenya Sub-county. The group reportedly accused Uwimana of threatening them.
They reported him to Nyabwishenya Police Station, and he was arrested and detained on allegations of threatening violence. However, during the arrest, Uwimana was reportedly severely beaten by both civilians and police officers.
Uwimana was found dead in police detention. It is alleged that the police men secretly buried the body on land belonging to retired Rev. Christopher Mbereye.
When Uwimana’s relatives learned about his arrest and followed up on the matter at the police station, hoping to resolve it amicably, officers allegedly informed them that he had already been released.
However, the relatives and other Congolese nationals became suspicious and continued searching for him. On Friday, May 8, 2026, a group of Congolese nationals crossed into Uganda and confronted the suspects, demanding to know Uwimana’s whereabouts.
Police officers at Nyabwishenya Police Station managed to calm the situation, but allegedly failed to inform their superiors about the incident.
The matter later attracted the attention of Sowed Kyaise, the Busanza Border Internal Security Officer, who received intelligence that Congolese nationals were planning to attack Nyabwishenya Police Station. He reportedly alerted top district security authorities.
Security officers who responded to the scene reportedly described the matter as scandalous and ordered the arrest of Musabimana, Kizito, Yebuze, Hakuzimana, and Nsabimana. On Tuesday afternoon, the suspects led Kigezi regional police officials to the burial site where Uwimana had allegedly been secretly buried.
On Wednesday, Ugandan security authorities removed the deceased’s body from Kisoro hospital mortuary and took it to the Uganda-DR Congo border of Busanza so that relatives could pick it for a decent burial.
However, relatives and locals angrily converged and rejected the body, demanding that Ugandan security authorities must first pay money to fund burial expenses and general compensation.
Traders in Busanza town council mobilised 500,000 shillings and gave it to the deceased’s relatives, but the money was rejected for being meager.
Ugandan authorities got stuck and took the body back to Kisoro hospital mortuary. On Friday evening, the accused were paraded before the Kisoro Chief Magistrate’s court.
SOURCE: URN
If you have a story in your community or an opinion article, let’s publish it. Send us an email via editor@peaknews.co.ug
