An ill-fated phone call helped police track down and arrest the boyfriend and prime suspect in the murder of Faith Namata, a 17-year-old senior three student of Kitebi secondary school.
Namata, was reported missing last Wednesday and three days later, her body, bearing signs of strangulation and sexual assault, was found dumped in a bush near a road in Kikumbi Zone.
Police investigations reveal that on the evening of her disappearance, Namata received a call from her alleged boyfriend, Jeremiah Kakande. The two were later seen walking together in Kitebi between 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.
She never returned home to her grandmother, Regina Nabaggala, prompting a missing person’s report that night at Kitebi and Nateete police stations. Three days later, residents in Bunamwaya discovered the body of a young girl and alerted Katwe police, who transferred it to the City Mortuary in Mulago.
Locals who had earlier seen Namata with Kakande quickly informed the police, who launched a search for him. Detectives found that Kakande had already vacated his rented room in Kitebi.
But his attempt to contact one of Namata’s friends, asking about what was “happening at school” proved to be his undoing. The friend, already aware of Namata’s death, tipped off the family and the police.
The police advised the deceased’s friend to arrange a meeting with Kakande and arrested him along with the boda boda rider, Muhammad Kato, who was transporting him.
According to ASP Luke Owoyesigyire, deputy Kampala Metropolitan police spokesperson, Kakande and Kato, are being detained to establish who was directly responsible for Namata’s killing and the motive behind it.
Namata’s mother, Doreen Nabawanuka, expressed disbelief, saying her daughter was innocent and had never mentioned having a boyfriend. Her grandmother, Nabaggala, echoed the same sentiment, describing the teenager as quiet and always homebound when not at school.
Preliminary findings suggest Kakande may have strangled Namata after accusing her of being involved with another student. He allegedly hired a boda boda rider to help dump the body in Kikumbi Zone, Makindye Ssabagabo Municipality, Wakiso district.
Namata’s killing bears grim similarities to that of Jackline Nakabembe, a Makerere University student murdered by her boyfriend, Dickens Agumeneitwe, in 2022.
Nakabembe’s body was discovered weeks later, buried in a shallow grave after being dumped in Naguru trenches. Both cases underscore a growing pattern of gender-based violence among young couples, leaving families and communities grappling with the devastating aftermath of intimate partner killings.
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