By KT Reporter
Vicente Ekweny, the first witness and a victim in the terrorism case against former leader of the rebel Allied Democratic Forces-ADF Jamilu Mukulu and 24 others, has asked the International Crimes Division of the High Court in Kampala to assist the family of his deceased uncle, former Namayingo District LC3 Chairperson Tito Okware.
Okware was shot dead at his home on Sunday, 1 February 2015, in Namavundu Village, Namayingo District, by assailants traveling on a numberless Bajaj motorcycle. While testifying on Monday, Ekweny identified in court Mukulu’s co-accused, Kabambwe Ali alias Munakenya, now 39, as the person who shot his uncle in the eye.
Through the victims’ counsel Sarah Awero, the 29-year-old witness informed the panel of four Justices—led by Justice Michael Elubu—that he was 19 years old and in Primary Six at the time of the incident. The panel also includes Dr. Andrew Bashaija, Lady Justice Susan Okalany, and Justice Stephen Mubiru. Ekweny explained that the deceased left behind one child, also 19 years old, and several school-going dependants who were not renting at the time.
He said Okware’s death created deep divisions within the family. Many of the deceased’s brothers abandoned his home for fear the assailants would return. The widow, he added, remains ill from the trauma. Ekweny told the court that his heart remains unsettled and that he still lives in fear.
He appealed to court to assist the family to return to school, explaining that they previously mined gold on Sundays to support themselves and attended school during the week. He added that some family members are now renting places to sleep despite having no financial means. The deceased, he said, had been the unifying force in the family through regular meetings and discussions, but since his death the family has become divided.
Wednesday marked day two of the terrorism trial in which Mukulu and his co-accused face charges of terrorism, murder, aggravated robbery, attempted murder, and belonging to a terrorist organization—the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF). According to evidence tendered at the pre-trial stage by DPP Lino Anguzu, Mukulu is indicted as the leader of the ADF and the Salaf Muslim community in Uganda.
He is accused of issuing orders to his co-accused to carry out murders and robberies in several districts, including Mayuge, Bugiri, Tororo, Mbarara, Namayingo, Kampala, Wakiso, Jinja, Mbale, and Budaka between 2011 and 2015. The prosecution team is led by Chief State Attorney Richard Birivumbuka and Assistant DPP Thomas Jatiko.
The defence is led by Counsel Caleb Alaka, who on Tuesday cross-examined Ekweny on two statements he made at Central Police Station and Nalufenya Police Station in Jinja. The statements—one recorded on February 5, 2015, after the murder, and another on March 4, 2015, in which he identified the suspect—were admitted in court as defence exhibits.
Justice Elubu adjourned the trial to resume today, November 19, 2025, for the second prosecution witness. The prosecution further alleges that between 2011 and 2014, Mukulu and his co-accused acquired firearms, underwent military training in neighbouring countries, and secured funding to pursue political, religious, and social motives through violence.
Among the charges Mukulu faces is the murder of prominent Muslim clerics Sheikh Yunus Abubaker Mandanga and Sheikh Dakitoor Muwaya, a top Shia religious leader. The group is also accused of attacking Bugiri Police Station and killing officers Karim Tenywa and Muzamir Babale. The accused were arrested from various locations in Uganda and Tanzania between 2014 and 2015.
Their charges date back as far as the 1998 ADF attack on Kichwamba Technical Institute, in which more than 80 students were killed. Although the group was committed to trial in September 2019 by then High Court Judge Eva Luswata—now a Constitutional Court Judge—following a pre-trial conference, no substantive hearing took place until this week.
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