Trial of Kanyamunyu brothers, Burundian model girlfriend for January 2020

Hearing of a murder case against the Kanyamunyu brothers in the High court has been scheduled to start next year in January. Mathew Kanyamunyu and two others are accused of murdering activist Kenneth Akena in November 2016.

Kanyamunyu is jointly charged alongside his Burundian girlfriend Cynthia Munwangari and his elder brother, Joseph Kanyamunyu.

On Wednesday, the accused persons together with their lawyers Caleb Alaka, Evans Ochieng and state prosecutors Jonathan Muwaganya and Ann Kiiza appeared before High court judge Steven Mubiru who said that he will be hearing the case from 8th to 10th January 2020.

The same court also has appointed two court assessors; Juliet Kasengwa and Simon Mateeka. Prosecution alleges that on November 12, 2016, along the Kampala-Jinja highway near Malik Car bond, opposite the main gate of Uganda Manufacturer’s Association in Lugogo Nakawa Division, the accused murdered Akena by shooting him dead after he allegedly mistakenly ‘scratched’ Kanyamunyu’s vehicle.

Joseph Kanyamunyu faces alternative charges of being an accessory to the murder. It is alleged that on the day Akena was killed while at Nakasero hospital, Joseph removed the alleged killer pistol from Mathew’s car registration number UAW 548M. Betty Aol Ochan the leader of opposition in parliament, who spoke on behalf of Akena’s family, says that they have waited long for the trial to start.

Previously, the trial was supposed to start in January 2019 but it was adjourned because it had been fixed in a special criminal session and thus the then judge couldn’t finish hearing the case. The suspects have been on bail since 2017.

URN