Kampala, Uganda | URN | As joint security forces continue to piece together the motive and perpetrators of the killing of renowned Vlogger Ibrahim Tusubira, also known as Isma Olaxess or Jajja Ichuli, progress is being made in the investigations. Eleven videos captured by police and private cameras have been retrieved for review, and seven witnesses have recorded statements.
Isma Olaxess was shot dead on Saturday 6, May 2023 at around 9:20 pm, and the investigation is being conducted by experts from the CID, Crime Intelligence, Forensics, IT, and KMP Territorial Units. By Monday 8th evening, the joint probe team had retrieved five CCTV clips from private homes in Kyanja, Nakawa division in Kampala, where Tusubira was gunned down using a pistol.
Six additional clips were retrieved from CCTV cameras linked to monitoring rooms at Kabalagala, Jinja Road, Kira Road, and Kira Division. Sources familiar with the investigations have stated that the videos from private homes show the killers surveilling, taking positions, and seemingly communicating with people who may have been notifying them about Tusubira’s movements.
Tusubira was shot eight times, and six bullets were reportedly retrieved from his body during a postmortem at Mulago Hospital morgue. However, security officials are puzzled about how his driver, Mathias Waiswa, survived unhurt despite the fact that the two killers who emerged from a dark hideout shot both sides of the car windows.
“There are visible bullet penetrations on the driver’s side, but it’s not yet clear how Waiswa survived unhurt. We know that the killers targeted Isma and they were sure he was in the co-driver’s seat. But how did the driver survive without any scratches despite the fact that the windscreen, driver, and co-driver windows were penetrated by the bullets,” a source said.
Fred Enanga, the Police spokesperson, has confirmed that investigators have analyzed the incident and determined that it was a targeted attack. He added that Waiswa is also being held to explain how he survived unscathed. “Two assailants armed with one pistol emerged from their hide-out near his gate and fired multiple shots, killing him instantly from the passenger seat. His driver, Waiswa Mathias, remained unscathed, without any injuries despite the bullets, which riddled the driver’s side,” Enanga said.
Detectives have resolved to keep Waiswa in custody until the circumstances surrounding his miraculous survival in an incident that claimed the life of his boss is unearthed. “He is still in protective custody with two other suspects, helping out with certain lines of inquiry. The two assailants escaped on foot up to the main road and got away on a motorcycle that was waiting for them. The K9 dog stopped at that point. One glove was also recovered by the K9,” Enanga said.
At least seven witnesses have recorded statements describing the person they saw as early as 7 pm, who was later joined by another at the time of Tusubira’s shooting. Tusubira’s journey began at 4 pm when he moved from Munyonyo via the Entebbe Expressway and made a stopover at Nyakana’s bar in Mutungo where he left at 8:15 pm for his home, only to be shot near his residence.
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Security officials have resolved to review the videos of places where Tusubira was before his murder. It is also alleged that Isma Olaxess received a phone call from someone who seemed to have asked him to wait along the road but did not show up, and they decided to drive home.
“We have established that along the way, the victim received a phone call and asked the driver to park aside near Munyonyo roundabout so as to wait for the person behind the phone call. He did not appear and they drove on. It’s not clear whether the caller is linked to the masterminds of the murder or not, but our investigations will establish in due course,” Enanga said.
The six bullets retrieved from his body, cartridges collected from the scene, and CCTV clips have been handed over to the Directorate of Forensic Sciences –DFS at Naguru police headquarters. However, several people have expressed little expectations from the Tusubira murder investigations since many have been killed in the similar way without any successful prosecution.
