Court orders state to disclose DNA report details in Katanga murder
Kampala High Court Judge Isaac Muwata has directed the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to provide the defense team representing Molly Katanga, the widow of slain businessman Henry Katanga, with all relevant documents pertaining to the DNA expert report.
The defense team, led by Peter Kabatsi, had previously declined to cross-examine the forensic expert, Assistant Commissioner of Police Andrew Mubiru Kizimula, regarding his evidence on DNA analysis and report.
Kizimula testified that upon examining the murder weapon, he found DNA belonging to the deceased Katanga, his widow Molly, and their daughter Patricia Kakwanzi. The DNA report authored by Kizimula, which also analyzed DNA samples collected from the late Katanga, his widow Molly, and the crime scene at their residence on Chwa II Road in Mbuya/Nakawa Division, has been admitted as a prosecution exhibit.
The court has also accepted as exhibits samples collected by pathologists from the late Katanga’s body during the post-mortem but rejected all exhibits collected from the crime scene, including blood samples, sticks, bed sheets, hospital linens, and samples collected from the widow Molly Katanga.
The court agreed with the defense team that police officers who collected and documented these exhibits are competent to testify about their origin, storage, and chain of custody. Once this chain of custody is established, the prosecution can tender these exhibits into evidence. For now, the said exhibits have been tendered for identification purposes until the scene of crime officer testifies.
Among the documents requested by the defense team are the Standard Operating Laboratory protocols used in testing DNA samples, report writing procedures, dates of work, and data files. The defense lawyers argued that they made this request in May but have not yet received the documents, prompting the court’s order.
The case has been adjourned until September 10, 2024, for further hearing.
