KAMPALA, UGANDA: President Museveni has condemned the murder of critic blogger Ibrahim Tusubira known by aliases Isma Olaxess and Jajja Ichuli describing his killers as “pigs”, an abusive language he has over time used to castigate similar high-profile murders in the country.
Ichuli was attacked by assailants who waylaid him and sprayed over eight bullets at his face on Saturday evening as he approached his gate in Kyanja, a Kampala suburb. The vlogger was buried at his ancestral home in Nkokonjeru, Mukono District on Sunday afternoon.
Mr Museveni in a lengthy condolence message on Monday afternoon said NRM enjoys defeating unarmed opponents with counter-arguments and it is such pigs who believe in using guns against unarmed opponents.
“Ugandans, especially the Bazzukulu, Condolences on the death of the blogger, Ibrahim Tusubira aka Isma Ichuli. I condemn and treat with contempt the killing of this Ugandan by some pigs. It is pigs that believe in using guns against unarmed opponents. NRM enjoys defeating unarmed opponents with counter-arguments,” reads in part Mr Museveni’s tweet.
According to the President, the move by killers behind such murder describe their weakened minds to out-argue an opponent. “Killing critics shows that your position is false and you cannot out-argue an opponent. Why kill him if he is wrong and you are right? Killers are fake thinkers. They stand on false positions. Anyway, I can assure Ugandans that this criminal will be traced and punished.”
Referring to previous murder incidents and terror attacks, Mr Museveni said the killers of the controversial blogger will be brought to book.
“Do you remember the Bijambiya in Masaka? Most of those suspected killers are in the courts of law today. Do you remember the Kiddawalime group? Most of them are either dead or in prison. Kiddawalime himself was among the dead.”
The President through the State House Comptroller also contributed Shs 10 million to the family as condolences for the loss of their beloved son.
“I have sent ‘mataaba’ to the family. The State House Comptroller will deliver it. Sympathy to the family of Isma. We stand with you and we shall punish the killer.
Fresh details emerge on Ichuli murder
Meanwhile, police spokesperson, Fred Enanga Monday confirmed that three suspects including the driver of the late blogger had been arrested and under custody, while detectives were actively investigating a suspicious call to Jjajja Iculi hours before he was shot dead on Saturday evening.
Enanga said that preliminary investigations have indicated that the deceased on a fateful day played football in Munyonyo before he left and used the Entebbe Expressway and later had dinner at Nyakaana bar in Mutungo where he left at around 8:15 pm for his home at Kyanja.
“Our cyber teams are following a lead that as soon as they left Mutungo, when they reached Munyonyo roundabout, Isma received a phone call and asked the driver to park aside because the person behind the phone was telling him to wait for him there (at the roundabout),” Enanga said while addressing journalists on Monday at the police headquarters in Naguru, Kampala.
“They waited for the person behind the phone call in vain as he didn’t appear and they drove home until when they reached the gate where they were attacked. It is not clear whether the caller is linked to the masterminds of this murder or not but our investigations will be able to establish in due course.”
According to police, whereas it was first said the shooter used a submachine gun, evidence from cartridges recovered at the scene and taken through ballistic analysis indicated that a pistol was used.
“The armed assailant fired multiple shots at close range killing him instantly. His driver remains unscathed despite bullets that riddled the driver’s side.”
Enanga explained that the scene crime investigators used sniffer dogs in an effort to trace the shooters and they followed the movement of the assailants up to the main road where they are believed to have boarded a motorcycle and escaped.
“They (assailants) dropped one glove we believe was used by the shooter and our canine was able to help recover.”
The police spokesperson said the deceased’s driver, Mathias Wasswa took him home but was not injured during the shooting is currently in their protective custody to help out in investigations.
“Outside the driver, we have been able to arrest two suspects. Together we have three people whom we are interviewing.”
The police spokesperson however warned the public against making wild allegations that he said might do a disservice.
“Everybody is bringing out their version but we ask the public to remain calm and patient. This continuous speculation is a disservice to the family and the public. These many versions are not verified. We are aware some of his videos were controversial but we are yet to establish whether his murder is related to his social media work or other motives.”
Killers as Pigs
President has often made statements promising to “defeat” the “killer pigs” in what appears to be a ritual assurance whenever a murder occurs.
In June 2021, President Museveni vowed to “defeat” armed assailants who attacked and injured Works and Transport Minister Gen Edward Katumba Wamala in an assassination attempt which left his daughter and driver dead.
Museveni commenting on the incident described the killers as pigs who do not value life and promised to defeat the criminals like his government has done in the post.
“The pigs who do not value life shot at Gen. Katumba killed his daughter and driver and injured him. Condolences on the loss of the two Ugandans. I talked to Gen. Katumba twice on the phone. He is being well-managed. We shall defeat the criminals as we did in the past. We already have clues to those killers. Besides, the new system of digital beacons on all vehicles and Boda Bodas will eliminate the misuse of vehicles and Boda Bodas to commit crimes,” read a tweet by Mr Museveni nearly two years ago.
In June 2018 following the assassination of Abiriga on June 8, 2018, Gen Museveni still described the killers as ‘pigs and parasites’, and said the government would dedicate resources towards modernising the anti-crime capacity of the security forces and also require citizens to be more vigilant.
“They [killers] are pigs, they are idiots,” Museveni told residents and the victims’ relatives at the scene of Abiriga’s murder the following day. The president promised to hunt the killers down.
Earlier that year, the president had, in the wake of the shocking brutal murder of city accountant, Susan Magara vowed to bring the “pigs” to book. Magara, 28, disappeared on February 7, 2018, and had been held for 21 days by her kidnappers who wanted ransom before her body was discovered dumped in Kigo off the Entebbe expressway.
“Susan’s murder shows what sort of swine (pigs) we have in Africa that do not value treasures like the beautiful Suzzie whom, unfortunately, I had not had the opportunity of meeting. As for the killers of Susan, we shall get them because there are clues they left behind. I will not allow anybody to interfere with freedom of our young people,” Mr Museveni vowed before proposing a number of measures that he hoped would help combat such kind of criminality.
Mr Museveni then suggested that government takes the palm print records of every Ugandan as well as their DNA. According to him, this would be coupled with the CCTV cameras installed in the cities and towns across the country.
“In order to eliminate these criminals, we may have to look at two others measures; capturing the palm-print of everybody and the DNA of everybody. Some elements try to argue that capturing the DNA of epople is not democratic. I cannot understand why it is not democratic. DNA records of everybody are good to compare with blood samples, sweat, sperm etc found at the scene of crime. Palm prints are better than thumb prints because the criminal may leave the palm-print and not thumb print,” he said.
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