Where is the man who carried a child’s head to Parliament? [New Vision CSI: Crime Stories]

In September 2020, security officers intercepted a young man carrying a human head to Parliament. The severed human head allegedly belonged to three-year-old Faith Kyamagero. Five years later, Kyamagero’s Masaka family is seeking answers about their murdered child. In this first episode of a two-part series, New Vision undercover journalist brings you an investigation into the case of the head at Parliament.

Transcript

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On September 14th, 2020, at about 11 a.m., as the country returned from a weekend, it woke up to disturbing news of a young man who had confidently walked to the eastern main gate of parliament carrying a box wrapped as an expensive gift, claiming it was meant to be delivered to a top parliament official. As security guidelines required, attempts were made to check the wrapped gift, and officers discovered the severed head of a child inside the box. Witnesses recalled how he remained calm, smart, wearing a face mask and fully composed during questioning. According to an inside source, he was taken to the then Special Investigations Division, Chireka, for a night and was picked up the next day. He did not record any statement there. On September 15th, Nuashaba was interrogated at the Criminal Investigations Directorate headquarters in Kibuli while the severed head of the child was taken to the city mortuary for examination. When the DNA results came out that same day, it was confirmed that the severed head belonged to the Toso that had earlier been found abandoned next to the water treatment plant in Kijabweme village, Chabakuza subcounty in Masaka City. On September 17, 2020, he appeared in the corridors of Buganda Road, then the chief magistrate's court before Magistrate Gladys Kamasano and recorded an extrajudicial statement confessing to the killing of a child. An extrajudicial statement was recorded after the suspect had confessed to the crime. He was then transported to Massacre to Kijabuemi village, where the crime had been committed and appeared before the Massacre Grade 1 magistrate Grace Wakoli, who charged him with murder, aggravated defilement, and trafficking in children for purposes of human sacrifice. Being capital offenses in nature, the case could not be tried by the lower magistrates' court. He was denied plea entry and was remanded to massacre Maine prison, awaiting committal to the High Court. Since the incident happened between September and October 2020, little has been heard about the case in public. At the time of the murder, Parliament was actively debating the prevention and prohibition of human sacrifice bill legislation aimed at curbing ritual killings and introducing harsher penalties. Investigations also established that no further inquiries were conducted after Nuashaba allegedly confessed and recorded an extrajudicial statement before the then Buganda Road Chief Magistrate Gladys Kamasanyu. Yet the central question remained unanswered. If Nuashaba was convicted, where is the record of the judgment? Was the file merely misplaced? Was it deliberately tampered with, or was Masaka High Court withholding a public record that could finally reveal what happened behind closed doors? Five years later, the family was still waiting for answers. Locating Charles Senyunga, the father of the deceased in Kijabwemi village, Kinyama subcounty in Masaka City was difficult. Many people in the village shared the same name. When it was clarified that the search concerned the man whose daughter had been mutilated and transported in a box to Kampala, directions were given.