Gen.Kayihura Left Exposed as His Trusted Enforcer Nixon Agasirwe Faces Heat Over Kagezi Murder

The dramatic arrest of former police officer Nixon Agasirwe has reignited scrutiny of his former boss, retired Inspector General of Police (IGP) Gen. Kale Kayihura peeling away the last layers of insulation between the once-powerful police chief and Uganda’s criminal justice system.

With new revelations linking Nixon to the 2015 assassination of prosecutor Joan Kagezi, questions are mounting about how Kayihura could so thoroughly empower a man now named as a mastermind in one of Uganda’s most shocking murders yet claim he barely knew him.

Nixon, long regarded as Kayihura’s enforcer and right-hand man, has been accused by convicted assassin Daniel Kiseka Kiwanuka of orchestrating the hit on Kagezi.

Kiwanuka’s damning testimony led to Nixon’s recent arrest, almost a decade after the murder sent shockwaves through Kampala.

The development has put Gen. Kayihura once hailed as President Museveni’s most loyal and effective security operator in a vulnerable and politically perilous position.

That someone with Nixon’s murky background could rise under Kayihura’s watch to become a Senior Superintendent of Police, commanding a powerful Special Operations Unit, raises troubling questions about the retired general’s leadership and judgment.

“I Never Knew Him”? The General’s Curious Amnesia

In a recent television interview, Kayihura tried to distance himself from Nixon, denying any close association and insisting Nixon “had never been near [his] office.” But the record tells a different story.

Under Kayihura’s regime, Nixon was one of the most feared figures in the police force a man with a reputation for ruthlessness, coordinating covert operations and wielding influence far beyond his official title.

Sources within Uganda’s security circles point to Nixon’s direct involvement in politically sensitive operations and covert activities, all sanctioned implicitly or explicitly by the highest echelons of police leadership.

The contradiction is stark: How does a man who rose from obscurity, without formal qualifications, end up heading one of the most well-equipped and well-funded police units, if not under Kayihura’s direct patronage? More critically, how did Nixon receive promotions, operational command, and access to high-level security operations without the IGP’s endorsement?

The Kayihura System

Kayihura’s tenure from 2005 to 2018 saw a rapid expansion of the police force, both in numbers and in budget, surpassing other security agencies and turning the police into a political machine.

He built a vast network of informants and special units, many operating outside traditional structures. Nixon’s Special Operations Unit, working alongside Crime Preventers , was one of the key instruments of this shadow system.

While officially, then Deputy IGP Okoth Ochola was the number two in the police hierarchy, operationally it was Nixon who many in the force recognized as Kayihura’s real executor. Whether it was crushing protests, targeting opposition figures, or controlling volatile urban hotspots, Nixon was the go-to man.

That Kayihura now claims to have had no direct dealings with Nixon undermines both his credibility and his oversight role. Either he was complicit in Nixon’s rise and actions or dangerously unaware of what transpired under his command. Both scenarios point to a serious failure of leadership.

Political Rehabilitation Interrupted

Kayihura had appeared to be quietly rebuilding his standing within the ruling establishment. His 2023 retirement from the army, complete with a celebratory send-off, and a private family visit to President Museveni at Rwakitura months later, suggested a thaw in his long freeze from inner-circle politics.

But Nixon’s re-arrest reopens old wounds and reignites controversy around Kayihura’s tenure.

It paints a picture of a police force where loyalty trumped merit, and where raw power, rather than discipline or ethics, determined advancement.

This new twist comes after years of legal woes for Kayihura, including his 2018 arrest and military court charges related to unlawful repatriation of Rwandan refugees and failure to secure military hardware.

In 2019, he was sanctioned by the United States for human rights abuses, with travel bans extended to his family under the Global Magnitsky Act.

The Joan Kagezi Murder: A Crime That Won’t Stay Buried

The 2015 murder of Joan Kagezi was a national tragedy an ambush that took out one of Uganda’s top prosecutors as she prepared to lead trials in major terrorism cases. The killing sparked outrage and brought calls for reform in Uganda’s security apparatus.

Nixon’s alleged role in that assassination and his deep ties to Kayihura now threatens to permanently taint the legacy of the former IGP.

Nixon’s name had previously surfaced in several controversies, from illegal detentions to torture allegations, and in 2017 he was jailed alongside other officers from the Kayihura era, including Herbert Muhangi and Col. Ndahura Atwooki.

Though military charges against Nixon were dropped in 2024, his re-arrest in connection with the Kagezi case signals that he remains a person of significant interest to authorities.

It also indicates that the state may no longer be protecting the former regime’s loyal foot soldiers and by extension, may be preparing to revisit the actions of their commander.

The Fragile Wall Between Nixon and Kayihura

If the investigation into Nixon deepens, Kayihura may find himself without plausible deniability. The former police chief cannot disown a man whose rise, power, and influence were inseparable from his own rule.

Their careers were intertwined. Their legacies may now be inseparable as well.

What’s left is a general exposed, with no uniform to shield him and no official title to silence critics.

Kayihura may have once controlled Uganda’s vast police machinery, but today, the very system he built could be what ultimately leads him into legal and political peril.

As the Kagezi murder case winds its way through a long-delayed justice process, Gen. Kale Kayihura will find that the shadows of his past are growing darker and that the ghosts of his command may yet come calling.