NAIROBI, Kenya – Ugandan security forces have arrested a man accused of killing and eating 38 people over 15 years, with the country’s military chief linking him to a series of murders across three districts and promising a public trial.
Uganda’s Chief of Defence Forces, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, announced the arrest of Moses Mujurizi in a post on X on Monday, October 26, alleging that the suspect killed and consumed his victims between 2010 and 2025 in Masaka, Ibanda and Kazo districts.
The announcement has revived attention on a long-running series of killings in southwestern Uganda, where previous investigations reportedly involved repeated arrests, escapes from custody and allegations of corruption among security personnel.
However, the claim that Mujurizi was responsible for all 38 deaths has not been established in court, and the military chief has not publicly released a list of the alleged victims or detailed the evidence supporting the full tally.
Military Chief Promises Public Trial
Announcing the arrest, Kainerugaba described Mujurizi as the worst serial killer and cannibal in Uganda’s history.
“We will try him in public, and definitely execute him,” the general wrote.
The statement has drawn attention not only to the scale of the allegations but also to the question of how the case will proceed through Uganda’s criminal justice system.
Any criminal charges must be tested through the courts, where prosecutors would be expected to present evidence linking the suspect to specific offences. The military chief’s public declaration does not establish guilt or determine the outcome of any trial.
The circumstances of the latest arrest, including its precise location and the evidence recovered by investigators, were not fully detailed in the announcement.
A Trail of Killings Dating Back to 2012
Reporting by Uganda’s Daily Monitor traces earlier investigations involving a suspect with a similar name to a series of killings that terrorised communities in the Greater Masaka region in 2012 and 2013.
At the time, authorities were investigating attacks in which assailants allegedly broke into homes and hacked occupants to death. The violence prompted heightened security operations as investigators tried to identify those responsible.
One of the most disturbing cases involved the killing of members of a family associated with Pastor Steven Mugambe of Kyebe Pentecostal Church in Rakai District.
The newspaper also reported the killing of 52-year-old Urita Nabasagi in Kyakaleera village, where attackers allegedly hacked her to death while leaving her two grandchildren alive.
Investigators had previously suspected that the attacks involved multiple perpetrators, with reports suggesting that the suspect may have operated alongside accomplices.
Previous Arrests and Escapes Raised Questions
According to the Daily Monitor, the suspect was first arrested in 2009 and reportedly confessed to 17 murders during an earlier investigation.
The newspaper recounted several subsequent episodes in which he was arrested but later escaped or was released under disputed circumstances.
In one reported incident, a police officer and a Local Defence Unit officer allegedly accepted money from the suspect in exchange for helping him escape detention. The report said the money had been concealed on his body.
Other accounts described further arrests and a later escape during an operation around Lake Albert. The circumstances surrounding some of these episodes remained unclear, raising questions about how the suspect repeatedly evaded custody.
The reported history makes the handling of the latest case significant, particularly whether investigators can establish links between the suspect and individual murders, identify any alleged accomplices and explain the earlier failures to keep him in custody.
