KAMPALA — The High Court has admitted crucial evidence implicating Noame Nyangweso, step-sister to the late Henry Katanga, in coercing key witness George Amanyire.
High Court Judge Isaac Muwata delivered the ruling on Thursday, October 17, allowing the defense to present visitors’ logs from Kigo Prison.
The logs reveal Nyangweso’s multiple visits to Amanyire, allegedly forcing him to alter his testimony and frame Molly Katanga for her husband’s murder.
“On the 19th August, we obtained a court order and wrote to the Commissioner General of Prisons, who prevailed over the OC Kigo prison to avail the visitors book to KAA,” Defense lawyer Jet Tumwebaze said.
Evidence now on court records indicates that Nyangweso who was in the company of senior counsel Mwesigwa Rukuntana and police detective Wilber Tworekirwe attempted to influence Amanyire’s testimony.
Tumwebaze pressed Nyangweso about these joint visits, implying that the presence of legal and police officials suggested a coordinated effort to manipulate Amanyire’s narrative.
State prosecutor Jonathan Muwaganya led the state’s failed objection to the admission of this visitors log evidence, alleging that the court order is not a clear document to speak to whether or not it is a court order.
Muwaganya stated: “For there to be a suit, there must be parties. My Lord, when you look at these documents that are being named a court order, we don’t know which parties litigated before which court/judicial officer. Secondly, my Lord, the court order doesn’t speak to which advocate moved Kajjansi Magistrates Court to arrive at this court. You have the name of the law firm; Kampala Associated Advocates as the Applicant. We don’t know who in KAA. All we know is that it’s a law firm with many advocates with all colours.”
He raised grounds regarding authenticity and forgery of the order by the defense team, saying: “The third issue is there is no judicial officer to whom this court order is attributed. All we have is a title for the chief magistrate. A conventional court order must indicate not only an advocate moving court but also a judicial officer before him the application is being made.” Muwaganya called the court order “a quark order”.
He also dismissed allegations that those entries meant visitation to Amanyire George. He cited Rule 25 of the Constitution (management of exhibits) (practise directions of 2022) guides this honourable court as to who might tender exhibits and as such must comply with the rules.
Defense lawyer Edison Karuhanga countered Muwaganya’s claims, reasoning that it’s proper for this court to have evidence as to who visited Amanyire while on remand at Kigo at the time when he was committed to this court for trial.
Karuhanga said: “My Lord, before you is an order of a chief magistrate court at Kajjansi. My learned friend argued that it was not a court order because it lacks certain things that he is used to seeing in court orders.”
“It’s a signed and sealed original court order of the chief magistrate court of Kajjansi of 24th August 2024 and the applicant in that case is clearly described. Section 73, 75 of the Evidence Act which deals with public documents. It has never been the law that a Chief magistrate must be brought before the High court to tender in a court order.”
Karuhanga urged that the record at Kigo prison bears the stamp and signature of the officer in charge of Kigo prisons. “The witness signed in the visitors book to visit Amanyire. My Lord, particularly on 8th August 2023,” he said.
“My learned friend says it’s only agreeable to the part where she wrote her name and yet the rest is also relevant to her evidence,” Karuhanga submitted.
Justice Muwata’s ruling has forced the prosecution to request a two-week recess to reorganize after key witnesses faltered under cross-examination.
Earlier, defense lawyer Tumwebaze had also questioned Nyangweso about her public actions following Henry Katanga’s death, suggesting a smear campaign against Molly.
“You printed and distributed T-shirts bearing pictures of Molly with the words Murderer on the loose. You distributed them to market vendors of Nakawa and Bugolobi market vendors,” said Tumwebaze.
“You put up billboards on the streets claiming you want justice for your brother,” he said. “I put it to you by intending to mobilize the public against the accused persons and deny them a fair trial. I put it to you that you are dishonest, unreliable, and untruthful and you have lied throughout your testimony”.
Nyangweso denied these claims, insisting her motives were to seek justice for her brother.
On Tuesday, defense lawyers also accused Nyangweso of harboring ill intentions toward the Katanga family, particularly the widow, Molly, and her children.
The court also heard that even the late Katanga was suspicious of Nyangweso’s actions.
He reportedly dismissed her as a chaperone for his two daughters’ weddings, despite her being his only surviving paternal sister. Instead, he chose his cousin, Lydia Kabirisi, for the role.
During cross-examination, it was revealed that Katanga had never called Nyangweso once in the last few months, contradicting her earlier testimony that she was his confidant.
The defense also pointed to a history of suicides in the Katanga family, suggesting that suicide was not uncommon among its members. They cited the example of Katanga’s brother, Ntomi Katanga who committed suicide before Katanga’s death.
Defense lawyers questioned Nyangweso’s statement during a separate funeral ceremony, where she claimed it would have been impossible for Katanga to commit suicide since he was right-handed and the bullet had entered through the left side of his head.
“If I put it to you that the bullet actually entered through his right side, would you change your opinion that Katanga might have committed suicide?” Tumwebaze asked, but Nyangweso declined to answer.
It was also revealed that on the day of Katanga’s burial, Nyangweso was allegedly elsewhere, attempting to hoard vital documents belonging to him.
As evidence, the defense confirmed that 10 out of 77 items on the police search list had disappeared, yet these items appeared on a list of documents Nyangweso claims she received from the late Katanga.
Lawyers further questioned how Nyangweso had conveniently obtained these documents on the same day Katanga’s office was broken into and searched. Nyangweso reacted angrily, accusing the defense of insulting her by implying she was a thief. This prompted objections from the prosecution.
Presided over by Judge Isaac Muwata, the case centres on allegations that Molly Katanga murdered her husband, Henry Katanga, on November 3, 2023.
Her daughters, Martha Nkwanzi Katanga and Patricia Kakwanza, face charges related to the destruction of evidence, while Amanyire and nursing officer Charles Otai are implicated as accessories after the fact.
