Same pistol in Isma Olaxes murder used in Bugingo shooting

Pastor Aloysius Bugingo was shot at with the same pistol that was used to kill vlogger Isma Olaxes aka Isma Tusubira last year, forensic experts have established.

Bugingo was allegedly attacked on Tuesday night by unknown people who also killed his bodyguard and driver Cpl Richard Muhumuza. Muhumuza, a well-trained soldier in the Special Forces Command (SFC) which guards the president and other key installations in the country was known by many in Bugingo’s church as “Mukadde we kanisa” (elder of the church).

The ballistic examination of the bullets recovered from Bugingo’s vehicle, the crime scene, and projectiles removed from Muhumuza’s body have been connected to Olaxes’ killer pistol. Olaxes was murdered in May 2023 near his home in Kyanja, Nakawa Division, in Kampala. For eight months now, detectives have not made any breakthrough, and so far, no suspect has been arrested.

“As we had said earlier the pistol is not in any of the security agencies’ records. But we have now established that the same pistol that killed Isma Olaxes is the same that was used in the failed assassination of Pr Bugingo,” the source said.

Muhumuza’s body was found with 13 bullet wounds and seven bullets were retrieved from his body. Olaxes was shot six times even though in total security collected nine cartridges.

Meanwhile, Bugingo’s vehicle has been removed from the Directorate of Forensic Science (DFS) at Naguru police headquarters to the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) in Kibuli. This was after the Directorate Crime Intelligence (DCI) and DFS agreed that the vehicle should be handed over to CID headquarters.

A police driver drove it to CID headquarters where the investigations are being headed by Senior Commissioner of Police (SCP) Beata Chelimo. However, drama ensued as senior CID officers questioned who authorized the transfer of the vehicle to their headquarters without the director’s consent.

Because of the disagreements on who should keep Pr Bugingo’s vehicle which bears 11 visible bullet holes, it was agreed that it should be handed over to the Inspector of Vehicles Officer (IOV) at Old Kampala.

Investigators have since collected seven CCTV videos from Salt Media premises, police security cameras on the road including cameras on private buildings in an attempt to unearth the whole truth behind the botched assassination.