Couple in alleged murder-suicide were assassinated, family says
Police officer was targeted because of his stance on goods smuggling from Uganda, they say.
A Busia family has disputed a police report on the death of their son, who reportedly shot himself after shooting his wife dead last week, and now claims the couple were murdered.
The incident happened on Wednesday night at the couple’s house near the Ganga police post in Samia sub-location where the man, a police officer, was attached.
While police maintain that the officer, Edwin Mukhula, shot dead his wife Viola Ouma with an AK-47 rifle and turned the gun on himself, his family claims the couple were attacked and killed by unknown people, who locked them inside their house after the killings.
The officer, his family says, may have been assassinated because of his tough stance on goods smuggling from Uganda.
The family is now calling for the intervention of Inspector-General of police Hillary Mutyambai and Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i, accusing police in Busia of covering up the matter.
Mr Mukhula, according to the police report, shot his wife and then himself on the night of June 23 at around 1am.
His father, Camulus Mukhula, said he read mischief in the death of his son and his wife.
"The police called me to inform me about the incident at 10.30am on June 24, when the incident occurred at 1am. Why did it take them that long to reach us when Edwin had friends with our contacts?" he asked.
The officer’s brother, Dennis Omondi, disclosed that the family was privately following up the matter and suspected the officer’s killing was a work-related assassination.
Mr Omondi claimed to have received reports that the couple were attacked and killed by six people, among them police officers.
“We have information that six people attacked and killed my brother and his wife because he was tough on smuggled goods from Uganda,” he said.
“We found out that the door of their house was locked from outside with a padlock and that it is the police officers who visited the scene after the gunshots who broke the door to access the house. We are therefore asking how the couple managed to lock the door from outside after they died.”
The officer’s father said his son loved his wife and was always with her when he was off duty and it was unimaginable that he would kill her.
The couple had lived together for the past three years and are said to have displayed undying love for each other. They had one child.
Neighbours who responded to gunshots found the six-month-old infant sleeping in bed.
“They had visited me at home on June 15 and on June 17. His wife sent me Sh2,000, saying it was from my son. They never quarrelled and it is not possible that my son would kill his wife," the officer’s father said.
He cited inconsistencies in the way the matter was being investigated by the police in Busia County.
“Initially, I was told the bodies were taken to the Busia County Hospital mortuary, but when I got to Busia I did not find the bodies, and on further inquiry, they told me to check at the Sega private mortuary,” he said.
He said there were no records at the Sega mortuary about the people who booked in the body.
George Onyango, the officer’s elder brother, said the bodies had been tampered with before a postmortem examination was conducted.
“We checked on the bodies at the morgue and discovered that the wounds had been sewn without our knowledge. This indicates that there is something being hidden,” he said.
He also questioned why his brother, who joined the police service in 2018, had been transferred to more than four stations. He said this suggested frosty relations with his seniors.
“While some officers serve in stations for more than 10 years, my brother had been moved to four stations within a period of three years. Does it mean he was not on good terms with his seniors?” he posed.
But Samia sub-county police Commander Winny Siele, asked the family to be patient and wait for investigations to be completed.
The gun assigned to the officer had been taken for ballistic examinations, she said.
“Let everyone be patient and give time for the investigations to conclude. The ballistic results and the postmortem report will bring out the true report,” she said.
Ms Siele described the officer as a good and polite man who interacted well with his colleagues.
“He never engaged in drugs or alcohol. We were shocked to learn of the occurrence,” she said.
