Call data places Okello at Ggaba crime scene

Fresh evidence in the ongoing High Court mobile trial in Ggaba, Kampala, has placed the prime suspect, Christopher Okello Onyum, at the scene of the brutal daycare killings through analysis of his phone call data records.

Detective Inspector of Police Aggrey Mpamiizo told the High Court that telecom data linked to Okello’s known phone number traced his movements from Kyanja to Ggaba on the eve and day of the alleged attack that left four toddlers dead at Ggaba Early Childhood Development Programme.

“I was looking at the movement pattern, and I was able to establish that number 0769582620 moved from Kyanja, where he received an SMS from MTN Mobile Money at 03:39 hours, and moved to the next location, Eaton Clock Tower at 08:21 hours,” Mpamiizo, who is attached to the Central Police Station, Kampala, testified.

He added that the same number was later detected in Bunga between 08:44am and 08:59am before connecting to the MTN mast at Ggaba Beach from 11:07am to 11:38am — a mast that also serves the daycare centre where the killings occurred on April 2 shortly after 11am.

The court heard that at 11:25am, the same phone number made an emergency call, lasting 39 seconds. According to the prosecution, the call was made shortly after the suspect allegedly committed the murders. Further analysis of call data showed that on the eve of the attack, Okello received two calls while in Kyanja from individuals identified as Billy Namara and Juma Hashim.

Hashim, who runs a car rental company, last week took to the witness dock and told the court of how he had been in constant communication with Okello, having hired out a car to him, but it developed mechanical problems. The 57-year-old witness also presented financial records indicating that Okello had significant sums of money in both local and foreign currency accounts prior to the incident. He told the court that one dollar account initially held $3,900 (Shs14.3m), while another had $2,100 (Shs7.7m). His Uganda shilling account contained approximately Shs20 million.

However, by March 17, the accounts had largely been depleted after the money was gradually withdrawn, with the dollar accounts drained and the shilling account left with only about Shs100,000. He said when he analysed the Know Your Customer records, the bank accounts had been opened on November 3, 2025, in Onyum Christopher Okello’s name using his Ugandan national identification card.

“The majority of the funds came through cash deposits totalling Shs16 million, while about Shs4 million was deposited via mobile money,” the witness said.

He added: “My lord, I also established that Okello provided information during the account opening that he was a farmer and a resident of Ggaba.”

The 17th prosecution witness also told the court how Okello had, on the fateful day, used his number to send mobile money worth Shs195,000 to the director of the daycare, money which was meant for the placement of a child at the institution. Last week, the director of the daycare, Ms Annet Odongo, testified that after Okello had paid for the child’s fees, he walked out of her office after assuring her that the mother of the child would bring her the following day and report officially.

“So, I looked outside the window, and I saw the man (Okello) bending over one of the children. I thought he was beating him. So I ran while making an alarm. At the same time, Phoebe Namutebi (one of the caretakers) had also seen what the man was doing to the children who were playing,” the director testified. She added: “So, he left the child and lifted the knife towards me, and I ran towards the church where the guards were. That was the time that Phoebe grabbed a bicycle to hit him since he was now bending over the second child,”

Prosecution led by Chief State Attorneys Jonathan Muwaganya and Anna Kiiza maintain that the financial and telecom data form part of a broader chain of circumstantial evidence linking Okello to the crime. Okello, who had moved to Kyanja less than a month before the incident, is facing four counts of murder. He has denied the charges. The marathon mobile court hearing resumes today before Justice Alice Komuhangi Khaukha.