Zurah Nakabugo
Kampala
In what could pass for a movie script; allegations of blood money and protracted marital enmity between co-wives have taken the lead as Police detectives piece how a targeted surgical night acid attack at a ministers gate ruined the life of one of his wives.
One of the case investigators, who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, said they believe the struggle for control of State Minister for Higher Education Mwesigwa Rukutanas estates could have pushed some disgruntled family members to plot to murder one of their own. Preliminary details indicate that an outsourced assailant, keen on delivering the fatal blow, moved to procure the corrosive substance for the killer mission.
The brutal assail on Ms Gloria Kankunda, one of the wives of the happily polygamous Rukutana, was discreet in the planning, precise in its execution but devastating in consequence, raising suspicion of expert involvement.
Detectives reconstructing the winding crime chart, say the suspected sulphuric acid was bought from battery dealers several kilometers away in Mbuya, an eastern Kampala suburb, moved across the city to Kabowa from where it was splashed onto Ms Kankunda and her friend Ms Rina Ntorinwe with whom they were in the same vehicle.
The victims, whose faces were badly disfigured and heads scarred too, had apparently drawn down the windows as they awaited the guard to open the gate. But as fate would have it, the assailants sneaked in the ominous dark and unexpectedly pounced, turning the pairs lively conversation into natures desperate cries for help as the acid burned down their flesh. Such was the horror of the attack that fault lines are emerging in the shocked family as members take disparate positions over the wicked plot that has left the minister speechless.
It is alleged, his other wife, Ms Halima Harriet Nsiimire already remanded to Luzira Prison and her in-law Hope Ashaba plotted the attack. As it turns out, Ms Ashaba is a cousin to Mr Rukutana and the minister reportedly brought her up, including paying her school fees. But her alleged confession to Police that she was approached by Ms Nsiimire and participated in plotting the acid attack has rattled the faith of minister Rukutana who now wants court to sort out the mess.
Saturday Monitor has learnt that trouble began when Mr Rukutana withdrew his wife Ms Nsiimire from managing his up market Millennium Hotel on Entebbe Road and offered it to her co-wife, Ms Kankunda. By the time of the disputed management swap, Ms Ashaba was already an employee there and apparently Ms Nsiimires point person. This is why detectives are putting her on the spot as an accomplice. She confessed to us that Ms Nsiimire told her to look for someone who can kill her co-wife Kankunda because they had some grievances over their husbands huge estates, a police officer investigating the case, said.
The trail shows that Ms Ashaba enticed her friend Mr Bright Niwanida, a guard with Saracen security firm, to execute the delicate mission. Ms Ashaba connected the accused, Ms Nsiimire, to Mr Niwanida to pour the acid on Ms Kankunda, a source said.
Mr Niwanida has also reportedly admitted to police that he, together with Ashaba, bought the acid from a car battery dealer in Mbuya. It is said the duo did a mock trial to test the acids corrosive intensity by spilling it on a dress to be certain that it would cause maximum physical damage - and death - when poured on the target.
Kampala
In what could pass for a movie script; allegations of blood money and protracted marital enmity between co-wives have taken the lead as Police detectives piece how a targeted surgical night acid attack at a ministers gate ruined the life of one of his wives.
One of the case investigators, who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, said they believe the struggle for control of State Minister for Higher Education Mwesigwa Rukutanas estates could have pushed some disgruntled family members to plot to murder one of their own. Preliminary details indicate that an outsourced assailant, keen on delivering the fatal blow, moved to procure the corrosive substance for the killer mission.
The brutal assail on Ms Gloria Kankunda, one of the wives of the happily polygamous Rukutana, was discreet in the planning, precise in its execution but devastating in consequence, raising suspicion of expert involvement.
Detectives reconstructing the winding crime chart, say the suspected sulphuric acid was bought from battery dealers several kilometers away in Mbuya, an eastern Kampala suburb, moved across the city to Kabowa from where it was splashed onto Ms Kankunda and her friend Ms Rina Ntorinwe with whom they were in the same vehicle.
The victims, whose faces were badly disfigured and heads scarred too, had apparently drawn down the windows as they awaited the guard to open the gate. But as fate would have it, the assailants sneaked in the ominous dark and unexpectedly pounced, turning the pairs lively conversation into natures desperate cries for help as the acid burned down their flesh. Such was the horror of the attack that fault lines are emerging in the shocked family as members take disparate positions over the wicked plot that has left the minister speechless.
It is alleged, his other wife, Ms Halima Harriet Nsiimire already remanded to Luzira Prison and her in-law Hope Ashaba plotted the attack. As it turns out, Ms Ashaba is a cousin to Mr Rukutana and the minister reportedly brought her up, including paying her school fees. But her alleged confession to Police that she was approached by Ms Nsiimire and participated in plotting the acid attack has rattled the faith of minister Rukutana who now wants court to sort out the mess.
Saturday Monitor has learnt that trouble began when Mr Rukutana withdrew his wife Ms Nsiimire from managing his up market Millennium Hotel on Entebbe Road and offered it to her co-wife, Ms Kankunda. By the time of the disputed management swap, Ms Ashaba was already an employee there and apparently Ms Nsiimires point person. This is why detectives are putting her on the spot as an accomplice. She confessed to us that Ms Nsiimire told her to look for someone who can kill her co-wife Kankunda because they had some grievances over their husbands huge estates, a police officer investigating the case, said.
The trail shows that Ms Ashaba enticed her friend Mr Bright Niwanida, a guard with Saracen security firm, to execute the delicate mission. Ms Ashaba connected the accused, Ms Nsiimire, to Mr Niwanida to pour the acid on Ms Kankunda, a source said.
Mr Niwanida has also reportedly admitted to police that he, together with Ashaba, bought the acid from a car battery dealer in Mbuya. It is said the duo did a mock trial to test the acids corrosive intensity by spilling it on a dress to be certain that it would cause maximum physical damage - and death - when poured on the target.
