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FBI agents join probe into Uganda women killings

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By  Monitor

What you need to know:

  • The series of brutal deaths that shocked the east African nation raised a spectre of a possible serial killer at work.
  • Some of the murdered women were known to be commercial sex workers, and at least two were students.
  • Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, in an emergency meeting with the affected communities, promised to “personally investigate the murders”.

The US Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) has joined investigations into recent killings of women in Uganda.

Uganda police said the FBI would help them identify some of the bodies that were found in Nansana Municipality and the greater Entebbe in Wakiso District.

Uganda Police spokesperson Asan Kasingye on Monday said the FBI agents would look at the bodies of women who were found dead in Nansana and Entebbe recently.

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“Three FBI forensics experts are trying to establish whether the deceased were Ugandan nationals or not,” Mr Kasingye said.

PROBE

Police have been stuck with the bodies for months, two of whom were killed in Katabi town council in Entebbe and the other in Nansana Municipality between May and September.

"We always collaborate with international agencies but that does not mean we have delegated our constitutional mandate," Mr Kasingye emphasised.

“FBI is helping us in forensic investigation purposely to identify the three women bodies.”

The series of brutal deaths that shocked the east African nation raised a spectre of a possible serial killer at work.

There were striking resemblances in the cases— victims were all aged between 18 and 35, all were raped, and sticks placed in their private parts.

Some of the murdered women were known to be commercial sex workers, and at least two were students.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, in an emergency meeting with the affected communities, promised to “personally investigate the murders”.

Police and security agencies blamed the killings on domestic violence, ritual sacrifices or alleged drug gangs.

Internal Affairs Minister Jeje Odongo later told Parliament that the deaths were as a result of ritual sacrifices— an explanation dismissed by rights activists as simplistic and insensitive to the victims and their families.

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