Pine Car bond owner Ssebuufu tortured Katushabe to death- Survivor

The key witness who also doubled as a survivor on Thursday narrated to court how Pine Car bond proprietor and his employees tortured Donah Katushabe to death.

Ssebuufu and seven others are accused of kidnapping and killing Donah Betty Katushabe, a Kampala businesswoman who owed him money totaling to nine million shillings.

Amon Mwesigye,31 who was then a record assistant at Atugonza Kobusingye company advocates  told court on Thursday that on the fateful day on October 21, 2015, he was instructed by a colleague to follow up on a matter of one of their clients who had been kidnapped at Pine car bond.

“I was told that Katushabe( our client) had been beaten up by some bouncers at Pine. Meanwhile, we received another call from someone who introduced himself as Ssebuufu who asked that we pay his money or else she(Katushabe) would die,”Mwesigye told court.

“He demanded that he gets his money before 7pm that day.”

The witness said that he went to a police post near embassy house but was advised to  go to the Central Police Station but found the office of the in charge of the station closed. He then was advised to go to room 42 where he reported the matter.

Mwesigye told court that he proceeded to Pine Car bond where he found over 40 people and displayed his Identification document.

“They told me I was not going anywhere before paying their money .They said it was not a joking matter adding that they wanted to teach me a lesson for others to learn from.”

“They grabbed my ID and called someone by the names of Golola from one of their offices who lifted me by the collar and started punching me.”

Throughout his testimony, Mwesigye identified all the men in the dock including Ssebuufu as the ones who tormented him.

He narrated that his efforts to plead for mercy fell on deaf ears as they accused him and other lawyers of always defending defaulters in court before the place’s proprietor, Ssebuufu grabbed his(Mwesigye) phone  and went away with it.

According to Mwesigye, all this time police officers were looking on but later dragged him to a nearby house in which he found Katushabe.

“One police officer ordered her to stand but she could not because she had severely been beaten but was helped to stand and both of us were driven towards CPS.”

He revealed that on reaching CPS, the police officers got out of the vehicle and his tormentors drove towards Buganda road .

“The one(tormentor) in the co-driver’s seat asked me to pay the money before it was too late.I looked behind but no one of the police officers was following the vehicle in which we were.I pleaded for mercy from the men but in vain, ”he added.

At this time, according to the witness ,he was now determined to meet his creator following what had befallen him and what was about to happen for failure to pay the money.

“I jumped out of the vehicle but she (Katushabe) cried to me that I had left her to die in the hand of those men. I had to save my life,” he narrated.

He said he fell on the ground and got some wounds but later got some courage to jump on a boda boda that took him home where he rushed to a clinic for first aid.

Justice Anglin Ssenoga adjourned the case to February 12 for further hearing.

Prosecution alleges that Ssebuufu together with seven others including Paul Tasingika, Damaseni Ssentongo, Godfrey Kayinza, Philip Mirambe, Shaban Oduttu and Yoweri Kitayimbwa at Pine Car bond along Lumumba Avenue kidnapped and killed Donah Katushabe before robbing her mobile phone valued at three hundred thousand shillings.

Ssebuufu is out on bail whereas his co-accused are still on remand at Luzira prison.