Kampala, (UG): As events continue to unfold in the alleged murder of businessman Henry Katanga, Arthur Katanga the son of the deceased has opened up about the tragic incident saying her mother, Molly Katanga, was admitted to IHK hospital in critical condition.
Katanga, a prominent city businessman and moneylender was found dead on the morning of November 2, 2023, in his bedroom at his matrimonial home in Mbuya, Kampala.
Molly, his wife who was in the same bedroom where the businessman’s lifeless body was found in a pool of blood became the centre of the alleged murder, and the DPP on Tuesday charged her in absentia with the murder of her husband.
The charges come barely a week after a city businessman and Katanga’s ‘uncle’ Mr Barnabas Taremwa asked the High Court in Kampala to conduct an inquest into his nephew’s death.
However, in response to Taremwa’s petition, Arthur Katanga the son of late Henry Katanga rubbished the allegations and said that her mother sustained injuries in the fight and was admitted to IHK in critical condition.
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“On 2nd November 2023, my mother was admitted to IHK hospital where she underwent emergency surgery to save her life and has had three surgeries and has since been examined by the Police Surgeon himself as part of a police investigation,” said Arthur on Tuesday evening.
“The allegations that she was whisked away to be booked into a hospital and did it by jumping over my father’s dead body are false, painful and seek to make light of our sad situation,” Arthur said in an affidavit responding to Taremwa, adding that her mother, Molly Katanga was injured in a fight with his father before the latter’s death.
Arthur’s comments come just hours after the Nakawa Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday charged his mother, Molly Katanga, who according to several reports was in the same bedroom where the businessman’s lifeless body was found in a pool of blood on November 2nd, 2023.
Taremwa, a friend and ‘uncle’ to Henry Katanga had in a court inquest wondered how Dr Otai Charles, arrived swiftly at the home of the late businessman on the fateful morning when he was reportedly shot dead. His presence at the crime scene according to Taremwa was and is as inexcusable as it is unexplainable.
He further added; “The guts with which late Henry Katanga’s spouse, Molly Katanga, and his daughter, Tricia (Patricia), chose to abandon the body of late Henry Katanga ni a house unattended to by any loved one as well as the true identity of the person(s) responsible for the decision to whisk away Sima Katanga (Katanga’s 12-year-old son) to an unknown destination and keep him away from the burial arrangements of his slain father and let alone disable the said Sima Katanga from staying vigil at his late father’s Mbuya and Karuroko homes and what motivated such a decision merit inquest proceedings.”
“the person(s) responsible for the decision to abandon the body of late Henry Katanga lying down on the floor of his bedroom and instead prioritise the whisking away of his wife into an intensive care unit (ICU at IHK Hospital – Muyenga under the constant guardianship of Geofrey Kamuntu, her cousin, is a matter of great concern,” he stated.
Injuries sustained?
According to Molly’s son Arthur, they (the family) on November 16, 2023, requested and obtained from IHK hospital reports of my mother’s condition which they successfully obtained.
“We requested and obtained from IHK hospital reports of my mother’s condition when she went to the hospital on 2nd November 2023. We have obtained my mother’s x-rays and photographs from IHK hospital.”
According to the photos, Molly Katanga’s head was completely smashed up indicating that the fight (which no one knows about) was a tense one between/among the parties involved.
“They [the photos] show the state of her head after the stitches were put on. They show the x-rays of her hands. They show the transition of her finger and how they tried to save it by holding it with metals and they finally show its amputation,” Arthur explained while showing the photos to this publication.
While Arthur seems to suggest her mother was injured in a fight with his father, the police pathologists who examined Katanga’s body concluded in their post-mortem report of November 2, 2023, that, “There were no defence injuries seen and the long bones were intact.”
Arthur also accused Taremwa of spearheading a smear campaign against the Katanga family in the media, “has directly interfered with the investigations of my father’s death and directed it in a particular way and seeks to use this application to increase pressure on the authorities.”
He (the son) further claimed Taremwa had illegally critical material from police including a postmortem report to share with the media.
Taremwa recently asked court to invite high-profile army officers and family members who appeared at the Mbuya residence after Katanga’s death or tried to tamper with the crime scene.
However, Arthur said Taremwa’s Application “seeks to embarrass a number of people who attended my father’s funeral with the sole purpose of making them shun the orphans and family of the Late Henry Katanga and to further to make a media circus and theatre of the tragedy which befall our family.”
Taremwa had also expressed alarm at the mysterious disappearance of Katanga’s 12-year-old son immediately after his father’s death and the boy’s failure to attend the subsequent funeral ceremonies.
But Arthur said this is Taremwa’s “attempt to publicly humiliate my brother who is a minor in the manner proposed is diabolical. My brother has not been whisked away or hidden as alleged or at all. The police have not allowed anyone to stay at my parents home and my brother’s current address is surely none of Mr Taremwa’s business.”
He emphasised: “My father’s tragic and painful death is currently the subject of a police investigation and the police have even taken over the premises of my parents and have the keys to the house from where they remove items that they deem relevant to the investigation.”
Molly Katanga’s daughters, two others charged
The Directorate of Public Prosecution in its chargesheet on Tuesday, November 21, 2023, sanctioned the charge of destroying evidence against Katanga’s daughters; Patricia Kakwanza and Martha Nkwanzi Katanga for tampering with the evidence at the crime scene.
The DPP has sanctioned the charge of accessory after the fact of murder against George Amanyire and Charles Otai for assisting the suspects escape punishment.
“Since the murder of Katanga Henry, Prosecution–Guided Investigations by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) and Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) have been ongoing, culminating in the arrest of the suspects,” said the DPP.
Three of the five suspects were produced in Nakawa Chief Magistrates Court earlier today and remanded to Luzira Prison until December 04, save for Katanga Molly and Nkwanzi Martha Katanga who are hospitalised and had criminal summons issued against them.
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