Questions surrounding the killing of former Buyende District Police Commander Muhammad Kirumira have resurfaced, with senior security officials reportedly re-examining intelligence reports generated around the time of his assassination.
Kirumira was shot dead on September 8, 2018, in Bulenga, Wakiso District, alongside his friend and neighbour, Resty Nalinya Mbabazi, a mobile money dealer. The two were attacked while travelling in Kirumira’s car along the Kampala-Mityana road. Uganda Police later described the killing as one of a series of organised shootings that had shaken the country.
The renewed scrutiny comes against the background of a wider investigation into a string of high-profile shootings, including the 2016 killing of Major Muhammad Kiggundu and his bodyguard, the 2018 murder of former Arua Municipality MP Ibrahim Abiriga and the 2021 attempted assassination of former Works and Transport Minister Gen. Edward Katumba Wamala.
Police records have previously linked several of these cases to organised criminal networks. However, the circumstances surrounding each attack have been investigated separately, and the existence of similarities between cases does not by itself establish that they were carried out by the same people or for the same motive.
At the time of Kirumira’s murder, investigators pursued several leads, including possible links involving people within the security establishment.
One police officer, Assistant Superintendent of Police Ismail Senono, was arrested after investigators reportedly examined his communications before and after the shooting. Security sources cited at the time said his telephone number had been in communication with alleged assailants. Those allegations, however, were part of the investigation and did not by themselves establish criminal responsibility.
Police also examined whether firearms used in Kirumira’s killing could have been connected to weapons used in other high-profile shootings. At the time, detectives were awaiting forensic laboratory results that could potentially establish whether the same firearms had been used in previous attacks.
The official police account later identified a group of suspects in the Kirumira case. Police said two suspects, Abubaker Kalungi and Hamza Mwebe, were arrested and charged in connection with the murder. The case was subsequently committed to the High Court.
But the subsequent court proceedings have also complicated the question of who can ultimately be held responsible.
In April 2023, the High Court acquitted Kalungi after finding that his alleged confession had been obtained after torture. New Vision reported that the judge observed that Kalungi had healing torture marks four days before the statement was obtained by police.
That development means that allegations made during the original investigation must be distinguished from facts established through a fair judicial process.
Kirumira’s death was particularly significant because he had been involved in a bitter disciplinary dispute with sections of the Police leadership shortly before his killing. In January 2018, months before his death, he had been charged before the Police Tribunal with six offences, including torture, extortion, corruption, bribery, unlawful arrests and abuse of authority.
His confrontational relationship with parts of the Police establishment subsequently became an important part of public discussion about possible motives behind his assassination. However, the existence of disagreements between Kirumira and police authorities does not establish that any police official ordered or participated in his murder.
The renewed examination of intelligence reports could therefore reopen questions about what security agencies knew before the attack, what warnings may have existed, how suspects were identified and whether all available intelligence was properly followed.
The wider pattern of attacks has also continued to attract scrutiny. Police have previously investigated the Kiggundu murder, the killing of Abiriga and other high-profile shootings as part of broader efforts to dismantle organised criminal networks. In one later operation, police said a suspect known as “Kanaabe” admitted involvement in a series of planned killings and robberies, including the Kiggundu murder and the attempted assassination of Katumba Wamala. Such police allegations remain distinct from a judicial finding of guilt.
For Kirumira’s family and those who continue to question the circumstances of his death, the central issue remains whether the full chain of responsibility has ever been established beyond reasonable doubt.
Eight years after the former police commander’s assassination, the reported review of intelligence surrounding his death could bring renewed attention to unanswered questions about the attackers, their alleged networks, the possible motive and whether anyone who may have helped plan or facilitate the killing escaped accountability.
For now, the documented record establishes that Kirumira and Nalinya were killed in a coordinated shooting, that suspects were arrested and prosecuted, and that at least one key accused was later acquitted following concerns over the manner in which evidence was obtained. Any renewed investigation will have to determine what additional evidence, if any, can now clarify who ultimately ordered, organised and carried out the assassination.
