Joan Kagezi

Joan Namazzi Kagezi (14 July 1967 to 30 March 2015), was a Ugandan lawyer and prosecutor. At the time of her death, she was the assistant director of public prosecution and head of the International Criminal Division in Uganda's Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs.[1]

Joan Kagezi
Born
Joan Namazzi

(1967-07-14)14 July 1967
Luteete, Rakai District, Uganda
Died30 March 2015(2015-03-30) (aged 47)
Kiwaatule, Uganda
NationalityUgandan
CitizenshipUganda
Alma materMakerere University
(Bachelor of Laws)
Law Development Centre
(Diploma in Legal practice)
Eastern and Southern African Management Institute
(Died Before Graduation)
OccupationLawyer
Years active1992 – 2015
Known forLaw
TitleDeputy Director of Public Prosecution
Uganda Ministry of Justice
Spouse(s)Henry Morton Kagezi
ChildrenGeorge Phillip Kagezi
Carol Milcah Kagezi
Pearl Priscilla Kagezi
John Harvey Kagezi

Background and education

She was born Joan Namazzi to Kaggwa Sserwadda and Mrs. Sserwadda of Luteete Village, Rakai District, on 14 July 1967. She attended Nsuube Primary School from 1973 to 1980. She studied at Mount Saint Mary's College Namagunga, an all-girls boarding senior secondary school in Mukono District, for both her O-Level and A-Level education. In 1987, she entered Makerere University to study law, graduating in 1990 with a Bachelor of Laws degree. In 1992, she earned a Diploma in Legal Practice from the Law Development Centre. At the time of her death, she was pursuing a Master of Business Administration from the Eastern and Southern African Management Institute.[2]

Career

Throughout her 23-year career as an attorney, Kagezi served as a public servant with the government of Uganda. Straight out of the Law Development Centre in 1992, she secured a position as land officer in the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development. In May 1994, she was appointed a state attorney in the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs. She received a promotion in February 2002 to principal state attorney. In August 2007, she was promoted to senior principal state attorney. In January 2015, she was appointed head of the International Crimes Division, at the rank of assistant director of public prosecutions.[2]

Death

On 30 March 2015, at about 7.30 pm local time, Kagezi, who was driving an official Ford double-cabin pick up with government number plates without security, stopped at a road-side stand to buy fresh vegetables in the Kampala suburb of Kiwaatule. Her intended final destination was her home in the adjacent neighbourhood called Najjera. In the pick-up with her were three of her four children, two girls and one boy. One of the girls left the vehicle to pick up the products while the rest of the family stayed in the vehicle. While the girl was walking back to the car, a man approached the truck. He knocked on the driver's window which was closed, appearing to be making an inquiry. When Kagezi opened the window, the man shot her twice in the neck at close range, jumped on the back of a waiting motor cycle (boda boda), and sped off.[3] She was rushed to Mulago National Referral Hospital, where she was pronounced dead on arrival at about 8.00 pm. She was 47 years old.[4][5][6]

Case load

Among the high-profile prosecutions that Joan Kagezi participated in or led, over her 21 years as a government prosecutor were the following:[3]

  • The prosecution of Ugandan-born Australian cardiologist Aggrey Kiyingi for the assassination of his wife, lawyer Robinah Kasirye Kiyingi. She was gunned down in July 2005 outside the gate of the family mansion in Buziga, an upscale neighbourhood in Uganda's capital Kampala. The state lost that case.[7]
  • The trial and conviction of former Arua Municipality, Akbar Hussein Godi, whose wife was killed on 4 December 2008 in Mukono District. In February 2011, Godi was sentenced to 25 years in prison after being convicted of murdering Rehema Caesar Godi, who was 19 years old at the time of her death.[8]
  • The prosecution and conviction of Kampala businessman Thomas Nkulungira, also known as "Tonku", whose girlfriend was killed sometime between 21 and 30 December 2010. Her body was dumped in the septic tank at Nkulungira's house in Muyenga, a Kampala neighborhood. On 13 August 2011, a judge sentenced Tonku to death for capital murder.[9]
  • The prosecution of Thomas Kwoyelo, a warlord in the Lord's Resistance Army, on charges of kidnapping, murder, rape, and human mutilation and torture.[10] The trial was terminated when Uganda's Constitutional Court granted Kwoyelo amnesty.[11] On appeal, however, the Supreme Court of Uganda reversed that decision on 8 April 2015, sending the case back to the Uganda High Court for trial.[12]
  • The prosecution that was ongoing when Kagezi died of 13 individuals accused of participating in the July 2010 Kampala attacks, which occurred during the 2010 FIFA World Cup Final match, killing at least 79 people.[13]

Family

While an undergraduate at Makerere University in the late 1980s, she met her future husband, Henry Morton Kagezi. He died of natural causes in 2006.[14] Together, they had two boys and two girls: George Phillip Kagezi born in 1993, Carol Milcah Kagezi born in 1994, Pearl Priscilla Kagezi born in 1999, and John Harvey Kagezi born in 2004. President Yoweri Museveni has pledged to pay the children's school fees until each child determines that he or she decides to end his or her education.[15][16]

Search for her killers

On 8 April 2015, a heavily armed force of Ugandan and U.S. security officials apprehended Jamal Abdullah Kiyemba, an individual formerly held in Guantanamo. While there was no conclusive evidence tying Kiyemba to the killing of Kagezi, detectives were questioning him about his possible role in that crime and a range of other offenses.[17][18][19][20]

See also

References
  1. Ntale, Samson (31 March 2015). "Motorcycle Gunmen Kill Ugandan Prosecutor". Cable News Network. Retrieved 4 April 2015.
  2. Ainomugisha, Lydia (5 April 2015). "10 Life Lessons From Kagezi". Daily Monitor. Kampala. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  3. Wesaka, Anthony (1 April 2015). "Kagezi, The Name Synonymous With Handling High Profile Cases". Daily Monitor Mobile. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  4. Job Bwire, Stephen Otage, and Anthony Wesaka (30 March 2015). "Senior Principal State Attorney Joan Kagezi Shot Dead". Daily Monitor (Kampala). Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  5. World News (30 March 2015). "Lead Prosecutor in al-Shabaab Bombing Trial Shot Dead in Uganda". The Guardian Quoting Agence France-Presse in Kampala. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  6. Byaruhanga, Catherine (31 March 2015). "Uganda Prosecutor in al-Shabab Bomb Case Shot Dead". BBC News. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  7. Wesaka, Anthony (31 March 2012). "Did The State Lose Interest in Pursuing Robinah Kiyingi Murder Appeal?". Daily Monitor. Kampala. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  8. Edward Anyoli, and Pascal Kwesiga (11 February 2011). "MP Godi Jailed For 25 Years Over Murder". New Vision. Kampala. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  9. Andate Okanya, and Edward Anyoli (13 August 2011). "Tonku Sentenced To Death". New Vision. Kampala. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  10. Okeowo, Alexis (20 July 2012). "Thomas Kwoyelo's Troubling Trial". The New Yorker. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  11. Mmali, Joshua (22 September 2011). "Ugandan LRA Rebel Thomas Kwoyelo Granted Amnesty". London: British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  12. Okanya, Andante (9 April 2015). "Kwoyelo Amnesty Plea Flops". New Vision. Kampala. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  13. Pflanz, Mike (13 July 2010). "Suicide Bomb Vest Found at Third Ugandan World Cup Venue As Police Hunt Suspects". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  14. Mike Chibita (2 April 2015). "Who Kills A Widow in the Presence of Her Children?". New Vision. Kampala. Archived from the original on 5 April 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  15. Kakumirizi, Michael (2 April 2015). "I Will Pay Fees for Kagezi's Children – Says Museveni". Daily Monitor. Kampala. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  16. The Monitor Staff (3 April 2015). "Museveni Visits Kagezi's Family". Daily Monitor. Kampala. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  17. The Associated Press (8 April 2015). "Jamal Kiyemba, former Guantanamo prisoner, held in Uganda killing: Local prosecutor killed last month in suburb of Kampala". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Quoting The Associated Press. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  18. Vision Reporter (8 April 2015). "Guantanamo was a painful experience - Kiyemba". New Vision. Kampala. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  19. Wandera, Alfred (8 April 2015). "Details emerge about Kagezi murder suspect". New Vision. Kampala. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  20. Bariyo, Nicholas (8 April 2016). "Ugandan Police Arrest Former Guantanamo Bay Detainee". Wall Street Journal. New York City. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
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