The Deputy Director of Police Health Services, Dr Emmanuel Nuwamanya, has told the High Court Criminal Division sitting in Ggaba that the prime suspect in the four toddlers murder, Christopher Okello Onyum was fortune hunting and seeking enrichment.
On Friday, Dr Nuwamanya told court that Onyum revealed to him during an examination to ascertain his mental health, that he was influenced by childhood folk tales linking wealth to human sacrifice.
Dr Nuwamanya reiterated that during examination, he didn’t find any abnormal mental state that would have influenced Okello to kill the toddlers.
“When I assessed him, he was not undergoing symptoms that would have influenced the killing of the children” he said.
Dr Nuwamanya, further revealed that during examination, he found Okello to be stable and coherent explaining that Okello showed clear thinking and was able to understand proceedings, meaning there was no immediate barrier to him facing trial.
However, Dr Nuwamanya noted that although the suspect was in a stable state of mind at the time of the killings, he suffered from psychotic episodes in the past for which he received treatment between 2016 and 2025.
“Psychotic episodes refer to periods when a person breaks generally with symptoms that show that this person is not in touch with reality” he said.
A second witness, Dr Rogers Agenda, a psychiatrist at C-Care International Hospital Kampala, has told court that Okello had previously visited the facility to obtain a mental fitness (sanity) report, which is required by the Ministry of Internal Affairs for individuals applying for Ugandan citizenship, which he noted includes submission of a medical assessment of mental fitness.
Dr Agenda said during the examination on December 30, 2025, he didn’t find Okello with any mental disorder at the time, noting that Okello was mentally sound and fit to live and work in Uganda following the assessment.
Okello is charged with four counts of murder at Ggaba Early Childhood Development centre, contrary to section 171 and 172 of the penal code act, cap 128.
Court records show that on the second day of April this year at Ggaba Early Childhood Development centre, Ggaba trading zone, Ggaba parish, Makindye Division Kampala district, with malice aforethought unlawfully caused deaths of Eteku Gideon, Keisha Agenoroth, Sseruynage Ignatius, and Odeke Rayan.
The hearing has been adjourned to April 20, 2026, after proceedings were disrupted by the afternoon downpour.
