Dr. Mathew Kirabo, a fugitive convicted of homicide, was apprehended in Nairobi by the International Police (Interpol) on Tuesday, September 12, 2023.
This arrest occurred nearly a year after Kirabo was found guilty of the 2015 murder of his girlfriend, Desire Mirembe. A security source verified his detention while withholding further comments until Wednesday.
The Conviction
On May 30, 2022, Judge Henry Kaweesa of the Mukono High Court convicted Kirabo in absentia for Mirembe’s murder. The judge deferred pronouncing the sentence until Kirabo’s apprehension.
Kaweesa’s verdict was based on the report of court assessors, which detailed compelling evidence pointing towards Kirabo’s orchestration of the murder.
These court assessors had earlier recommended a guilty verdict to the Judge on March 29, 2022. Robert Sseguya, one of the assessors, urged the court to hold Kirabo accountable for the murder, citing substantial evidence.
Mirembe’s family, led by her father Emmanuel Musoke, expressed satisfaction and relief upon hearing the ruling, believing justice had been served. However, they expressed frustration with the security forces’ failure to apprehend Kirabo after multiple witnesses implicated him.
The Murder
Desire Mirembe, a medical student at Makerere University, disappeared in July 2015 after leaving her hostel to meet Kirabo. Her body was found in a sugarcane plantation in Jinja on July 7, 2015. Kirabo was later arrested and confessed to the crime, leading authorities to the crime scene and detailing his gruesome actions.
Despite being charged with murder and initially remanded at the Jinja Magistrates Court, Kirabo was granted bail on November 24, 2016. The case was subsequently transferred to Mukono High Court due to jurisdictional issues.
The Escape
In May 2021, Kirabo sparked outrage by requesting his passport returned for studies in the US. Following intervention from Col. Edith Nakalema, former head of the State House Anti-Corruption Unit, the trial resumed. Kirabo, however, absconded court in October, alleging sickness, while evidence surfaced of him engaging in a relationship with a US citizen.
Healthcare professionals who falsified Kirabo’s COVID-19 test results were arrested and detained. On November 3, 2021, Judge Kaweesa issued an arrest warrant for Kirabo, calling for his immediate court appearance. His failure to appear led to the judge demanding the sureties produce him or pay a fine.
When the sureties—Imelda Wabulembo, Benard Mbayo, and Elizabeth Baleke—failed to locate Kirabo, they were ordered to pay 50 million shillings each or face arrest for aiding a suspect’s escape.
After making the payment of 150 million shillings total, it was reported that Kirabo had fled the country in November 2021. At the time of his recent arrest, his warrant was still active.