Slain Ugandan medic buried as police narrow in on his killers

High-flying Ugandan medical practitioner Gideon Wamasebu was informally buried along a River bank in Kenya but his body is now resting in his Mbale village of birth Namabasa, eastern Uganda, as police stay hot on the trails of his killers.

Six people believed to be behind the cross-border crime that involved the kidnap of the Leeds University trained medic in Uganda, his killing in Kenya and extortion of his close relatives are being held in cells across the two countries.

As the key suspect in the killing, Kevin Shatome, is detained in Teso North, Kenya The Nairobian landed the list of five other suspects held at Malukhu Government Prison in Uganda believed to be his accomplices.

Kennedy Murambafu, Robert Chatome, Saleh Sulaiman, Brian Nsubuga and Ester Lauren are detained in the remand prison as police continue with the probe the doctor's murder.

Last Friday, Uganda detectives presented the five before Mbale Chief Magistrate's court where they successfully applied to detain them for additional time as they collect information on the doctor's disappearance in Uganda on February 6 and his discovery in Kenya on February 13.

"We intend to charge them with several counts including kidnap with intent to murder, kidnap with intent to procure ransom and conspiracy to commit a felony," Rogers Taitika, the Elgon region Police spokesperson said in a statement seen by the Nairobian. He added that the court allowed them to detain the five for 14 days to complete their investigations.

The Butali Law court in Kenya gave police 30 days from February 13 to complete investigating Shatome for the killing of the doctor who pathologist Dickson Muchana of Kakamega Referral Hospital said was strangled to death.

The leads in the case are "promising" as a detective based in Kenya shared with The Nairobian.

Cooperative

He said that Shatome was overly cooperative after they dangled a carrot stick on his face after initially being cagey and escapist.

"He took us to the scene of the killing along the Isiukhu River that flows from Kakamega Forest and reconstructed to us the crime scene. I feel that he opted to confess after we played 'good cop' to his emotions. He also gathered how hard it was for his accomplices in Uganda cells," he said.

"From how he acts, I feel he would rather be detained and charged in Kenya than Uganda, but that is subject to consultation with investigators and prosecution teams from both countries. Our bit was to get a confession from him."

It is this confession that led Shatome, 27, to take the Kenyan detectives to his house where among other things, they recovered Dr Wamasebu's Identity Card and a hoe believed to have dug the shallow grave in Machemo village along the river where he was hurriedly buried.

Malava OCPD Paul Mwenda told The Nairobian that detectives had initially recovered the doctor's mobile phone that Shatome used to send extortion messages to the doctor's close kin days after he was dead.

"I discovered the diction in the text supposedly from my uncle was different and suspected his phone was in the wrong hands," said Don Wanyama, Wamasebu's nephew. "This was the week my uncle went missing. I involved police, and we narrowed it down to the wrong guy."

A detective, who was among the officers who tracked down the phone, said Shatome had convinced the doctor's kin to drive his car to the Malaba border (Kenya) and hand it over to his (Shatome) brother in Kenya.

"Kenyan and Ugandan officers trailed the vehicle to his (Shatome) home, and as he walked to receive the car, he was met with some officers, prompting him run back to his house. We found him in the house's ceiling board with Wamasebu's phone."

No known enemies

Mr Wanyama, also the CEO of Uganda's New Vision newspaper, described his uncle, a father of three daughters, as a friendly Catholic man with no known enemies and had friends from Kenya and Uganda.

"We don't know how he arrived in Kenya but suspect Shatome, who runs a church in Kenya and Uganda and is well known to him, could have invited him over," he said when the body was being exhumed in Malava by detectives from Kenya led by homicide head Martin Nyuguto.

Villagers in Machemo say Shatome runs two dubious churches in Kenya and Uganda, just as he has two families across the borders.

In Kenya, he has a wife and two children and another wife in Uganda, but they are not sure whether this one has children.

"He practices divination, a reason I think many people of all walks visit his home," said Titus Wanyonyi.

We were unable to determine how the former Manafwa District Health Officer arrived in Malava but his elder brother Michael Wamasebu said Shatome had initially travelled to his brother's Uganda home, saying he had spiritual wherewithal to keep thieves and pilferers from the doctor's cattle farm.