On the evening of March 30, 2015, Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Joan Namazzi Kagezi parked her double-cabin pickup along Kiwatule road in Kampala.
She had stopped briefly near a roadside fruit stall, her three children waiting in the car. Moments later, gunfire erupted. Kagezi was shot in the neck at close range and died instantly, leaving a nation in shock.
More shocking, according to the prosecution evidence is that the near the fruit stall where Kagezi was shot dead from, was a washing bay owned by one of the key suspects, Minaana.
This week, nearly a decade after the killing, the State formally committed former Senior Superintendent of Police Nixon Agasiirwe Karuhanga and his alleged accomplice, Ssemujju Abdu Noor (Minaana), to the High Court for trial over the murder.
Prosecutors say they now have a mountain of evidence lined up to pin the two men, including testimony, forensic reports, call data records, and accounts of operational planning directly linking the duo to the killing.
According to the indictment, Kagezi’s death was not random—it was “carefully planned, financed, and executed,” allegedly to silence a prosecutor who had become a threat to Agasiirwe and his network.
Before her death, Kagezi had openly challenged the methods of Agasiirwe, who at the time commanded the Special Operations Unit, a highly sensitive wing of the police reporting directly to the Inspector General.
Prosecutors claim she had sanctioned investigations into several violent crimes and human rights abuses linked to Agasiirwe and his network.
“She did not approve of his work methods and admonished him for messing up criminal investigations,” the indictment reads. It further claims that Kagezi “had expressed an intention to charge and prosecute Agasiirwe,” creating tension between the prosecutor and the senior officer.
Her fears, prosecutors contend, were justified. On March 29, 2015, the day before her murder, Kagezi reportedly warned colleagues in an inter-agency meeting that she feared for her life.
“She informed the meeting that Agasiirwe and others intended to kill her,” the State claims. “And indeed, she was murdered the next day.”
Agasiirwe’s rise in the police was rapid. He began as an informant before being regularized as a Special Police Constable in the Rapid Response Unit at Kireka.
From there, he rose to command the Special Operations Unit, overseeing elite operatives tasked with sensitive and high-risk assignments. Prosecutors allege that Agasiirwe exploited his position to recruit dangerous individuals, the most notorious being Ssemujju Abdu Noor (Minaana).
Before his recruitment, prosecutors claim, Ssemujju had a long criminal history, including murders, armed robberies, and attacks on police stations.
“Before he was recruited as an operative, A2 had been arrested, detained, and charged several times for suspected involvement in violent crimes, including murder and armed robberies,” the indictment states.
Despite this, the State alleges he was shielded from justice and integrated into police operations. Agasiirwe allegedly introduced Ssemujju to the Inspector General as “a very resourceful person,” leading to his recruitment as a paid informant with armed police protection.
According to the prosecution, Agasiirwe was not just a distant mastermind—he supplied the very guns used in Kagezi’s murder.
Investigators say the firearms were handed to Kibuuka John, one of the hitmen, who then passed them to other operatives.
“Prior to the murder, Al [Agasiirwe] had given the two killer guns to Kibuuka John, who later handed them over to Mugonole Abdallah Nasur for custody at his rented residence,” the indictment states.
The hit was meticulously planned. Prosecutors allege that Ssemujju, Agasiirwe, and their operatives held several meetings in Kanyanya and Kyebando, finalizing logistics before heading to Kiwatule.
Kagezi was ambushed by four men on motorcycles, including Kibuuka John, Masajjage John, Mugonole Abdallah Nasur, and Kisekka Daniel Kiwanuka, a later prosecution witness who entered a plea bargain and testified that the murder was “planned and commissioned by A1 [Agasiirwe] and others still at large” at a fee of USD 200,000.
The prosecution alleges that Agasiirwe and Ssemujju continued to control the narrative even after the murder.
“Immediately after the murder, A1 led A2 and others to the IGP, held lengthy discussions, and inserted themselves into the investigation team,” the indictment claims. This, prosecutors say, allowed them to manipulate evidence and obstruct justice.
Adding to the alleged cover-up, Agasiirwe reportedly changed his identity to obscure his criminal history.
“He was regularized in police as Karuhanga Nickson,” the indictment notes. “However, he changed his name to Agasiirwe Nickson Karuhanga and replaced his known phone contacts to disguise his identity and involvement in several crimes.”
Prosecutors also allege that Agasiirwe deliberately blocked investigators from accessing his phone records.
“Efforts to retrieve CDRs for A1 were futile. He influenced telecom companies not to release any information,” the indictment states. “This was intended to divert investigations and cover up the crime he committed.”
Kagezi’s office at the High Court became another theatre of obstruction.
The State claims that Agasiirwe’s operatives seized her laptop and police files, returning only the laptop while the files remain missing.
“Prior to her death, the deceased had lost one of her phones,” prosecutors note.
“Surprisingly, when the laptop was returned to her children, the phone was also returned, suggesting she had been monitored.”
The prosecution further alleges that after the murder, Agasiirwe and Ssemujju facilitated the disposal of properties and assets linked to Ssemujju, while the latter abandoned known residences, changed phone numbers, and relocated to Kayunga District to live discreetly until his arrest.
During that arrest, prosecutors say, Ssemujju violently resisted officers, locking them in his vehicle before being re-arrested.
The State is adamant that the evidence collectively demonstrates a clear pattern. “Funds, intelligence, surveillance, and operational oversight were all provided by A1 and A2,” the indictment asserts.
“The accused persons acted with common intention. They have no valid defence and should be convicted as indicted.”
For prosecutors, this case is not just about avenging the death of one of Uganda’s top legal minds—it is about demonstrating that no one, not even powerful figures within the security establishment, is above the law.
“This was a murder meant to silence a prosecutor and protect powerful individuals from accountability,” the State concludes.
As the trial begins in the High Court this week, all eyes are on the evidence the State says will pin Nixon Agasiirwe and Ssemujju Abdu Noor as the masterminds behind one of Uganda’s most shocking killings.
The prosecution’s narrative draws a direct line from Agasiirwe’s rise in the police, through the recruitment of dangerous operatives, to the provision of guns and logistical planning that allegedly led to Kagezi’s death.
