On the night of March 30, 2015, Uganda lost one of its most courageous prosecutors Joan Namazzi Kagezi. She was gunned down in cold blood while buying groceries with her children in Kiwatule, a Kampala suburb. At the time of her murder, Kagezi was leading the prosecution in one of Uganda’s most sensitive and high-profile terrorism trials: the case involving the July 11, 2010 Kampala bombings.
The 2010 terrorist attacks shook the entire country. During the final match of the FIFA World Cup, as hundreds of football fans gathered at Kyadondo Rugby Club and Ethiopian Village restaurant in Kampala, suicide bombers struck. The coordinated attacks killed over 76 innocent people and injured many others.
The Somali-based militant group, Al-Shabaab, claimed responsibility, stating it was retaliation for Uganda’s military involvement in Somalia under the African Union peacekeeping mission (AMISOM).
Investigations led to the arrest of numerous suspects, some of whom were deeply embedded within local and international terrorist networks. The trial was delicate and dangerous. Joan Kagezi, head of the Directorate of Public Prosecutions’ International Crimes Division, was at the forefront of prosecuting these militants.
Among those implicated in the periphery of the terror case was a complex web of security operatives, rogue police officers, and international terror financiers. One of the emerging names from the shadows was former police officer Nixon Agasirwe a man with a decorated yet controversial career.
Agasirwe, once a trusted officer in Uganda’s Police Flying Squad, had risen through the ranks quickly. Known for his ruthlessness and efficiency, he was praised for handling high-profile criminal cases. But behind the accolades was a darker truth.
Whispers of involvement in armed robberies, extrajudicial operations, and clandestine security deals followed him. Despite being a police officer, Agasirwe accumulated immense wealth luxury cars, properties in Kampala, and business interests that were difficult to explain based on his government salary alone.
In the months leading to Kagezi’s murder, security agencies were conducting deep probes into how some of the arrested terrorist suspects had access to vast amounts of money reportedly up to 9 billion Ugandan shillings sent via international financial routes, allegedly from Al-Qaeda-linked accounts in Europe.
Investigators discovered that the money had been promised as a reward to individuals who could carry out mass killings on behalf of the terrorist organization.
It was during this time that some of the suspects began negotiating with police investigators, seeking plea deals in exchange for keeping the money or sharing it with those who helped them.
However, Joan Kagezi refused to be part of any negotiation that involved compromising justice. She remained adamant that the perpetrators face full accountability under the law. Her integrity became a threat to those within the system who had begun smelling profit.
Reports suggest that a faction within the security apparatus, led by Agasirwe and his associate Minana, was deeply involved in shielding the suspects in return for a share of the illicit funds. When Kagezi refused to budge, she became an obstacle — one that had to be removed.
According to investigations that surfaced years later, Agasirwe and Minana were not just operating within Uganda. Their network allegedly involved cross-border operations, smuggling, and clandestine deals with international criminals. It is within this environment that the conspiracy to kill Kagezi was hatched.
In 2025, after years of stalled investigations and public pressure, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions confirmed the arrest of Nixon Agasirwe and Minana in connection with Kagezi’s assassination. They were arraigned before Nakawa Magistrates Court and charged with murder and terrorism-related offenses. Their arrest reopened wounds but also brought a glimmer of hope that justice for Kagezi and by extension the 2010 bombing victims might finally be within reach.
Kagezi’s murder sent a chilling message at the time: even those who stand on the side of the law are not safe from the very institutions meant to protect them. Her assassination highlighted the deep-rooted corruption and collusion between some state actors and international criminal networks. But her legacy also endures as a fearless prosecutor who died protecting the integrity of justice in Uganda.
As the case against Agasirwe and Minana proceeds, many hope it will not only bring closure but also expose the rot that enabled such a tragedy — a rot that Joan Kagezi gave her life trying to fight.
