Jinja Grade One Magistrate Ochieng Yafesi has on Thursday 06th July 2022 remanded two journalists to wit Mutyaba Ivan of Busoga One and Isabirye Denis Baba FM to Kirinya Prison until 28th July 2022, after being charged with two counts of murder and conspiracy to murder.
The charges relate to the murder of a Jinja city businessman Shaban Malole who was gunned down on 14/5/2022 by unknown gunmen. On that day the duo had gone to his home to interview him about a family land wrangle, but did not find him and decided to interview him on phone.
Two of the journalists that were with the duo were earlier released on police bond on similar charges. The journalists are jointly charged with other suspects who were remanded earlier to the same prison.
Our own Jacklin Nabatanzi (Journalist at Radio Kiira FM) was the first journalist to be arrested over the same matter last month but was released on bail after some days.
The deceased was at the centre of a 900-acre family land wrangle belonging to the estate of his late father, Hajj Sulaiman Malole at Kituba Village, Kisozi Sub-county, Kamuli District.
Until his death, Malole was in support of his family’s efforts to lease the land to an investor for 40 years to construct a sugar factory, a move his siblings reportedly said was aimed at locking them out of their father’s estate.
The two journalists have been added on to the already remanded list of people like Councilor Abbey Mwase, Zaina Naiswike, Muhammad Mayende, Musana Mansoor and Saida Malole and are all set to appear in the Magistrate Court on 28th July 22 for mentioning before it’s sent to a higher court that has the jurisidiction of giving bail.
