A convicted man turned state witness has told the High Court’s International Crimes Division in Kampala that a man known only as “Nickson,” seen driving a government vehicle, was behind the killing of senior prosecutor Joan Kagezi nearly a decade ago.
Daniel Kisseka Kiwanuka, who pleaded guilty on Monday to charges related to the 2015 murder, returned to court to testify against his three co-accused — Kibuuka John, Nasur Abdallah Mugonole, and John Massajjage.
His chilling testimony appears to implicate a shadowy figure allegedly linked to the state.
Kisseka told the court that it was Kibuuka who informed them that the person giving orders in the plot was called Nickson.
“We asked to know who our boss was before doing such a job,” he said. “Kibuuka told us the boss was Nickson.”
Pressed by the prosecution on whether he had ever met or spoken to this person, Kisseka said he had not.
However, he claimed to have seen Kibuuka meeting Nickson inside a white government-marked vehicle in Kalerwe, a suburb of Kampala.
The meeting reportedly occurred around 5pm, but Kisseka said he was unable to make out the man’s features through the car’s windows.
"Nickson met Kibuuka in a white car with government number plates. It was parked near the roadside. I saw them talking, but I couldn’t clearly see what he looked like," Kisseka testified under cross-examination.
His account adds a new layer to the complex case surrounding the assassination of Joan Kagezi, who was gunned down in her car in Kiwatule as she returned home from work on March 30, 2015.
At the time of her death, Kagezi was handling several high-profile terrorism cases, including those linked to the 2010 Kampala bombings.
In earlier testimony, Kisseka had claimed he did not know who had ordered the murder, saying the entire arrangement was coordinated through Kibuuka.
The revelation of "Nickson" as the purported mastermind only came on the second day of his cross-examination.
When asked by the presiding panel of four judges whether he could identify the government agency to which the vehicle belonged, Kisseka said he could not.
Kisseka also told the court that the group was promised USD 200,000 to carry out the assassination.
But each of the alleged operatives only received Shs 500,000 during the planning stages, with the full sum never materialising.
Prosecutors have presented the case as a premeditated and organised attack involving multiple actors. The trial is expected to continue as the court examines the credibility of the testimony and the extent of alleged coordination behind Kagezi’s murder.
Despite the years since the assassination, the state’s case appears to be drawing closer to the inner workings of the operation, raising fresh questions about whether key figures have yet to be unmasked.