CID grills man found with human head at Parliament
https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/cid-grills-man-found-with-human-head-at-parliament-2010298
Tuesday September 15 2020
By Andrew Bagala
Police detectives are seeking to establish the motive of a man who was intercepted at Parliament with a severed human head he reportedly wanted to deliver to Speaker Rebecca Kadaga.
Joseph Nuwashaba, 22, who hails from Kizinda, Ishaka Municipality, Bushenyi District, was last evening being interrogated at the headquarters of the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) in Kibuli, Kampala, while the severed head was taken to Kampala Capital City mortuary for examination.
The suspect had put the head in a box and on reaching the entrance of Parliament, he told security personnel that he was delivering a gift to the Speaker of Parliament.
But when they opened it, they found a severed head of a juvenile. The suspect had attempted to enter Parliament while disguising as a woman wearing a dress, but his real gender was identified after the severed head was found.
Investigators are still examining whether the suspect worked alone or was helped by others, how he travelled from Masaka City, where he was working, to Kampala City, and why he chose to take the severed head to the Speaker of Parliament of all places.
Yesterday’s incident happened a day before Members of Parliament returned from recess after the National Resistance Movement primaries.
In yesterday’s incident, homicide experts are analysing the severed head to see whether it matches the body of a three-year-old girl that was found abandoned near the water treatment plant in Masaka City yesterday morning.
The girl was identified as Faith Kyamagero, a daughter of Mr Charles Ssenyonga, a resident of Kimanya Kyabukuza Division in Masaka City.
The CID spokesperson, Mr Charles Twiine, said they will compare the DNA of the two body parts to establish whether they match.
It is alleged that Nuwashaba, a casual labourer at Mr Ssenyonga’s home, left with Kyamagero on Sunday at around 6pm, but they did not return home.
The body of the little girl was found yesterday morning by neighbours without the head.
Rising cases
Of recent, dumping or smuggling of embarrassing items and animals into Parliament premises and other public institutions as a way of protesting against government excesses have become common. Since 2016, several political actors have been dumping piglets painted in different colours at Parliament.
Ugandan carrying child's severed head arrested outside parliament
A man carrying a parcel containing the severed head of a child has been arrested at the gate of Uganda's parliament.
Joseph Nuwashaba, 22, is being held by the country's Criminal Investigations Department (CID).
It is not yet clear what he intended to do with the parcel or where and how he acquired the head.
A CID source said that a child was reported missing in Masaka, south-west of the capital, Kampala, on Sunday.
A headless body has also been recovered in that district.
Investigators are working to find out whether it may be related to the head that Mr Nuwashaba was carrying when he was detained, reports the BBC's Patience Atuhaire in Kampala.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, Uganda experienced a wave of kidnappings and killings of children. Their body parts were believed to have been used in rituals.