Kampala, (UG): The Uganda Police has released details on how the Interpol in Kenya tracked and arrested Dr Mathew Kirabo, the run-away fugitive who killed his lover, Desire Mirembe in 2015, then a medical student at Makerere University.
Police Spokesperson Fred Enanga confirming Kirabo’s arrest revealed how the fugitive murderer had been on the run for the last couple of months until Tuesday, September 12, when he was nabbed from a hotel in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital.
“We wish to inform the public that a fugitive, Mathew Kirabo wanted by Mukono High Court, and has been on the run for the last couple of years, was arrested by Interpol Kenya, who successfully identified him, on the 12.09.2023 following a Red Notice from Interpol Uganda,” SCP Enanga said in a police statement on Wednesday afternoon.
“As you are all aware, the accused jumped court bail in Mukono High Court, during the hearing of the murder case of Desire Mirembe, who was allegedly murdered on 10th July 2015, and her body dumped in Lugazi sugarcane plantations,” Enanga added.
According to the police spokesperson, following his conviction and disappearance, the office of the DPP and the Directorate of CID processed a warrant of arrest and handed it over to Interpol Uganda, for them to locate and provisionally arrest the wanted fugitive.
“He was thereafter, declared a fugitive, populated on the Interpol Database of wanted persons and a Red Note issued accordingly in November 2021. All this while, Interpol has been monitoring his movement until 12.09.2023, when he was arrested.”
Background to the case
Desire Mirembe 19, was reportedly murdered on July 10, 2015, by her boyfriend Mathew Kirabo and her body was discovered in Lugazi sugarcane plantations in Buikwe district on July 11, 2015.
Kirabo confessed to the murder and was charged at Jinja High Court, remanded at Nalufenya prison in Jinja.
The case was then moved to Mukono High Court on the instructions of the then principal judge Yorokamu Bamwine after the state complained that the crime had been committed in the Mukono jurisdiction.
On October 6, the High Court in Mukono finally started hearing the case after 6 years.
On November 3, 2021, Kirabo absconded from court which caused the state to ask court to order his sureties to pay Shs 50 Million each and the case then proceeded without the suspect.
What next for Kirabo?
After the formalization of all the process, Enanga said that Kirabo will be delivered to Interpol Uganda, and handed over to the High Court in Mukono, in liaison with the ODPP and CID at Kampala Metropolitan Police Headquarters.
He further commended the Kenyan International Police (Interpol) who worked diligently to arrest the murderer who was on the run, and said this highlights an excellent relationship between the law enforcement agencies in the two countries.
“The arrest further demonstrates the continued value of the bilateral mutual agreements, between Uganda and Kenya, in bringing people to account for their alleged criminal actions,” said Enanga.
Police say Interpol Uganda Kenya and its partner agencies across the globe are relentless in ensuring those wanted for crimes face justice.
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