According to a statement by Ugandan police chief Kale Kayihura, she was killed near her residence in the Kiwatule district as she was returning home with her children
The attackers, on a red motorcycle, stopped near the place where she had parked her car to buy fruit and opened fire, hitting her in the neck and shoulder, according to the statement. Her three children were unhurt.
Joan Kagezi headed the public prosecution's international crimes division, handling crimes like terrorism, war crimes and human trafficking. No one has yet claimed responsibility for her murder.
“The murder of Joan Kagezi should only serve to increase our resolve to hunt down and bring to justice all those elements bent on disturbing the security and development of our country,” said the Ugandan police chief. He did not name a suspect.
On July 11, 2010 in Kampala, two suicide bombers detonated belts of explosives, one in an Ethiopian restaurant and one in the bar of a rugby club as the two places were showing the World Cup final. The Somali Islamist group al- Shabab claimed responsibility.
The trial of 13 accused – seven Kenyans, five Ugandans and a Tanzanian – started on March 17, nearly five years afterwards, in the Ugandan capital. They are charged with crimes terrorism and murder. All except one are also charged with belonging to a terrorist organization, al-Shabab. At the time Uganda was providing half of the African Union force (AMISOM) deployed in Somalia since 2007 to fight al-Shabab, with Burundi providing the other half.
Since then, Kenya and Ethiopia have also sent troops to join the force, which is now 22,000 strong. Al-Shabab has recently launched several attacks in Kenya, claiming responsibility in particular for the bloody attack on the Westgate shopping centre in Nairobi in September 2013, which left 67 dead.
Last week, Uganda announced tougher security measures following a US warning that there was an increased risk of terrorist attacks.
ER/JC