Kampala, Uganda: Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Nixon Agasirwe, the former top police commander who is already under investigation for the 2015 assassination of Senior Principal State Attorney Joan Namazzi Kagezi, is now facing further probe over a second high-profile killing; that of Eritrean businessman Daniel Weldu Okba Michael in 2016.
DailyExpress has exclusively learned that elite investigators broadened their probe after fresh leads linked Agasirwe to the kidnap and gruesome murder of Weldu, a wealthy investor and proprietor of Amma Company Limited, who was abducted in Kampala and later killed across the Kenyan border in Busia.
According to investigators, Weldu was kidnapped from his Bugolobi office on October 27, 2016, by a group led by a court ex-convict known as Kazahura. The operation was carried out with help from rogue elements within both the Uganda Police Force and the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF).
After abduction, sources say Kazahura handed the businessman over to Nixon Agasirwe at his Kololo-based Special Operations Unit (SOU), where he was allegedly forced at gunpoint to sign documents authorizing the transfer of billions of shillings from his bank accounts.
A fraudulent court order, signed by a chief magistrate in Kampala, was used to effect the transfers.
Investigators believe city lawyers, bank employees, and security operatives all conspired in the plot, siphoning Weldu’s funds into accounts held by a law firm whose name is being withheld as inquiries into this high-profile case continue.
Murder at the Border
Weldu would then be transported at night through the Busia border in a convoy led by now-convicted UPDF Captain identified as Akeem Bumali Mangeni and other operatives from SOU. After crossing into Kenya, the victim was reportedly told to proceed to Eritrea, but during a struggle, he was shot dead and his body dumped in a thicket, where it was discovered in a decomposed state days later.
At the time, Weldu’s disappearance drew the attention of his family and the Eritrean diplomatic mission in Kampala. Dissatisfied with the initial police investigation, they petitioned President Yoweri Museveni, who instructed the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI) to take over the case.
CMI Traces the Trail to Agasirwe
Using phone signal tracking, CMI operatives traced Weldu’s last known location to Agasirwe’s Kololo base. A subsequent search of SOU premises revealed a shirt identified by Weldu’s girlfriend as one he wore on the day of his abduction.
The discovery sent shockwaves through security circles. Then-IGP Gen. Kale Kayihura, a close ally of Agasirwe, quickly moved to dismantle the Nalufenya-based Joint Operations Center (which housed Agasirwe’s unit) and replaced it with the Flying Squad.
Gen Kayihura also deployed police commandos to secure the premises amid fears that evidence would be destroyed.
In retaliation, Agasirwe allegedly sent out a hit squad that assassinated two police officers guarding the site. Police later arrested ten operatives formerly attached to Nalufenya, some of whom reportedly confessed to the double murder and gave detailed statements about Weldu’s fate.
UPDF Captain Akeem Mangeni, who convoyed the Eritrean to the Kenya border, was later arrested, convicted, and sentenced to Luzira Prison for his role in the killing.
Several others were arrested, including Ben Lumu, Lucy Katuramu, Stanbic Bank employee Ruth Akullo, and one Christopher Kusera. However, despite overwhelming evidence, Agasirwe was neither arrested nor formally questioned over the Weldu case until now.
Nixon Agasirwe’s latest interrogation over the murder of Joan Kagezi appears to have reignited attention on the Weldu file. Kagezi was gunned down in 2015 while prosecuting high-profile terrorism cases.
Multiple sources now confirm that security agencies are reviewing the role of Agasirwe’s Special Operations Unit in both killings. “The level of criminal penetration into financial institutions, the judiciary, and security systems revealed by this case is unprecedented,” a senior intelligence officer told DailyExpress on condition of anonymity.
Who is Nixon Agasirwe?
Agasirwe’s rise through the police ranks was meteoric. A former hard-core criminal arrested by military intelligence, he was recruited as a police informant and later formalized into the force, serving in the notorious Wembley and Rapid Response Units. He never attended police cadet training.
Under Gen. Kayihura, Agasirwe founded a shadowy police outfit, the Special Operations Unit, which later operated from Kololo and reportedly ran extrajudicial operations and black-ops-style assignments.
His wealth, accumulated during his time in the force, is staggering. He reportedly owns nearly 100 commuter taxis across western Uganda and multiple buildings in and around Kampala. He was first arrested in 2017 on treason and illegal possession of firearms, but was released on bail in 2022 after four years on remand.
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