While opening her defence at the High Court in the murder trial of her late husband businessman Henry Katanga on November 2nd, 2023, Molly Katanga denied any wrong doing, alleging that her late husband committed suicide.
On Thursday, Molly Katanga appeared before Justice Rosette Comfort Kania and told court that her husband had been battling stress and depression linked to his money-lending business, where several clients had allegedly defaulted on loans.
Molly’s defence before court came after it ruled that she and four co-accused had a case to answer in connection with the fatal shooting of her husband at their home on Chwa II Road in Mbuya, Nakawa Division.
Molly is jointly charged with her two daughters, Martha Nkwanzi and Patricia Kakwanza, as well as George Amanyire, a shamba boy, and Charles Otai, a health worker.
The prosecution accuses them of acting as accessories after the fact by allegedly tampering with evidence and attempting to conceal the circumstances of death.
In that ruling, Justice Kania held that the prosecution had presented sufficient circumstantial evidence pointing to malice aforethought, relying on the doctrine of “last seen,” noting that the deceased and his wife were the only people in the bedroom at the time of the shooting.
Justice Kania further noted that the prosecution had raised sufficient questions requiring answers, citing, among other issues, forensic evidence linking Molly Katanga’s DNA to parts of the gun used for firing, the presence of gunshot residue on her hands, and inconsistencies around the trajectory of the fatal head shot, which the state argues is inconsistent with suicide, particularly given evidence that the deceased was right-handed.
While making her defence, Molly denied having knowledge of how to use a gun and rather cited late businessman Apollo Nyegamehe alias Aponye who passed on in a road accident in July 2023 before clearing a debt of UGX 1.5 billion he owed Henry Katanga as being the root cause of her late husband’s suicide whom she portrayed as a reserved individual.
Molly told court that on November 1, 2023, her husband returned home after jogging, had dinner, helped their son with homework and later went to rest.
She said that the following morning, he appeared stressed and discussed business challenges, including plans to take Shs 210 million to the bank. According to her testimony, she later went to the prayer room for about an hour before returning to the bedroom.
At around 6:00 am, she woke up and went to the bathroom, where she alleges her husband suddenly turned violent.
“He came and started beating me,” she said, adding that he followed her to the bathroom and assaulted her using a baton.
She told court that she was repeatedly beaten, forced against a door and struck with a metal bolt, leaving her severely injured and unable to stand. Molly said her husband later called out to her three times in Runyankore, saying “Yimuka,” asking her to stand up, but she was too weak to respond. She then heard him say he was going to kill himself.
“I heard a loud bang. I knew he had a gun. After that, there was silence,” she testified.
She said she later crawled out in search of water while bleeding heavily and sustained serious injuries. She told court she continues to suffer from complications, including headaches, dizziness, high blood pressure and difficulty walking.
Molly said she was first taken to a clinic on Kampala Road, then transferred to a facility in Bugolobi and later admitted to International Hospital Kampala, where she underwent surgery on her head, arms and hands.
She displayed scars she said resulted from the injuries and subsequent medical procedures. She disputed claims that she refused to record a police statement, explaining that she was in no condition to do so as her hands were bandaged and she was under heavy police guard.
After her testimony, the prosecution team, led by Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Samalie Wakhooli and chief state attorneys; Jonathan Muwaganya and Ann Kizza, requested more time to prepare for cross-examination.
The case was adjourned to April 2, 2026 for further hearing.
Excerpts from URN
