Former Police Special Operations Commander at the rank of Senior Superintendent, SSP Nixon Agasirwe, is reportedly in custody over his alleged involvement in the 2015 assassination of senior state prosecutor Joan Kagezi.
Agasirwe’s arrest comes in the wake of explosive testimony by a key prosecution witness, Daniel Kiwanuka Kisekka, a former UPDF officer who deserted the army and confessed to dealing with Agasirwe.
Kisekka told the International Crimes Division of the High Court on Wednesday that a man he identified only as “Nick”, driving a government vehicle, ordered the assassination of Kagezi.
Security sources contacted on Thursday afternoon confirmed to this publication that SSP Agasirwe, widely known in intelligence circles for his covert operations during the Gen Kale Kayihura era, is currently being held at the Flying Squad headquarters in Kireka to aid with ongoing investigations.
By press time, police had not issued an official statement confirming Agasirwe’s arrest or the exact charges Agasirwe, who previously served as the head of a special operations and investigation unit of police may face.
Investigators are also revisiting a 2016 government ballistics report that linked the gun used in Kagezi’s assassination to earlier killings of Muslim clerics, including Sheikh Mustafa Bahiga and Sheikh Hassan Kirya.
The report suggested the same firearm was used in multiple high-profile murders, raising questions about a wider network of targeted assassinations.
Security sources also allege that Agasirwe may have deliberately arrested the wrong suspects in several cases, allegedly to mislead investigations and shield the masterminds behind the killings.
Agasirwe was previously jailed on charges related to illegal repatriations, unlawful detention, and possession of military equipment, but was later released on bail.
Kagezi, a respected prosecutor with the Directorate of Public Prosecutions, was gunned down in 2015 in Kiwatule as she returned home with her children.
