Molly Katanga begins her defence, narrates to court how she was beaten

Kampala, Uganda | NEWS CORRESPONDENT | Molly Katanga, the widow of deceased businessman Henry Katanga, on Thursday returned to begin her defence before High Court judge Comfort Kania.

Sitting in the dock, with a pink veil to cover her scarred head, Molly maintained she did not kill her husband, adding that that is the accusation she has also heard from the prosecution.

She confirmed she does not know how to use a gun and has no knowledge regarding its operation.

Molly, who was married to the late Henry Katanga for 35 years, told court that the two enjoyed a normal marriage, with no issues or separation. She stated that Katanga was an introvert and a gentleman.

However, according to her testimony, Katanga, two months before his death, started showing signs of a high level of stress emanating from his businesses.

“His business (money lending) was stressing him; he could talk about how people were not paying as he had expected. He shared with me several times,” she said.

Among the stressing issues, Molly said, was a client, the renowned tycoon Apollo Nyegamehe alias Aponye, who owed Katanga “a lot of money” and died before he could pay.

Aponye, a long-time friend of the Katangas, died in a motor accident in Itojo along the Kabale–Mbarara Highway in July 2023 after his car rammed into a parked lorry. Aponye, according to Molly, had been dealing with her late husband and, at the time of his death, had a Shs1.5b debt with Henry Katanga.

“I remember the day Aponye died; I was home in the evening. Henry came and told me, ‘Aponye has died; it is like I have lost everything, my heart, and everything I have worked for,'” Molly Katanga narrated to court.

Molly also added that, being a long-time friend, Aponye did not enter many formal agreements to obtain loans from Henry Katanga, but they kept operating mutually, explaining that the debt could have been more than what was formally indicated (Shs1.5b).

“Aponye’s debt, death and clients’ stress blow up Katanga”

The matter of Aponye’s death and the debt were “something” always on the mind of Katanga; the matter was on his nerves and also stressed Molly.

On the day of Katanga’s death in November 2023, Molly says she returned home and routinely went about her walking exercise to Mbuya uphill, took a shower and joined her son to do homework.

After homework and dinner, they retired to their respective bedrooms at around 7:00pm. About 30 or more minutes later, Henry Katanga also returned.

Molly says that immediately Katanga returned, he started complaining about his business stress, adding that besides Aponye, other clients had also failed to pay.

Katanga had withdrawn Shs210m from the bank to lend it to other clients, but he decided he would return it to the bank, complaining that no one was paying anymore.

“I am done with this business; it is stressing me. I am depressed,” he said.

Molly left for the prayer room, which is within the house, and left Katanga in the upper dining area. An hour later, she emerged from the prayer room but found Katanga still seated where she left him.

“I tapped him and said good night, he replied, and then I went to bed. He joined me later; we did not talk again, but he did not sleep. I could hear him unsettled for I do not know how long, but I later slept off,” she narrates.

“Two weeks before his death, he had said he had a headache. I asked if I could give him painkillers; he said it is not a headache for painkillers to solve, it is stress.”

Molly says that she urged Katanga to seek medical help from their family doctor (Dr Karuhanga). He went and saw him but refused to buy the prescribed drugs, adding that he didn’t need any medicine to cure “just stress”.

The death of Katanga

When Molly woke up the next morning at around 6:00am, Katanga was still in bed, but while she was in the bathroom of the master bedroom, he came into the bathroom naked and started hitting her head. She only saw that it was him because of the bathroom mirror.

“He continued beating me while I was asking, ‘Wabota?’ What has happened? What is it? I tried to duck under the sink and held the pedal of the sink, and it broke. He dragged me to the bedroom area and slammed me on a door handle. He kept hitting me on the head while I was screaming for help.”

Molly states that Katanga was using a baton (locally referred to as enkoni), as he had many of them in the house.

“He started calling me in Runyankore, saying, ‘Molly, Molly, stand up,’ but I could not stand; I was bleeding. I recall he opened the door…”
In a low tone, Molly added, “Then he said, ‘I am going to kill myself now.’ At that moment, I heard a loud sound, followed by immediate silence.”

Molly narrates ordeal fight, brutal injuries

Molly narrated that during the battle with Katanga, she sustained severe injuries on her head, and her hands were fractured as she used them to protect her head from the beating.

She unveiled and revealed several cuts on her shaven head, also raising her hands to expose deformations on them as well as an amputated pinky finger.

“What you see (on my head) in court today is after reconstruction; my hands are still swollen after two and a half years, my hands were broken, I have multiple lumps in my breasts due to tremor, I lose balance, and I get headache episodes and dizziness,” she said.

Molly, however, maintains that Henry Katanga could not have done anything like that unless he had been consumed by something else. In this case, she states he must have broken down mentally owing to the weight of his financial frustrations.

With the trial now at a critical stage, attention is turning to whether financial pressure and mental strain could explain what happened inside the Katanga home.