Taxi Diver Murdered, Body Cut into pieces and Dumped in River Rwizi

SP Samson Kasasira/Courtsey Photo

By Wilfred Arinda  Nshekantebirwe

Mbarara City | June 9, 2026

A taxi driver who was reported missing in Ntungamo district has been confirmed dead after dismembered body parts were recovered from River Rwizi in Mbarara City, in what police are investigating as a premeditated murder allegedly motivated by a financial dispute over a drone taxi deal gone wrong.

According to  SP Kasasira Samson, the Police Public Relations Officer for Rwizi Region, the case began on May 11, 2026, when police in Ntungamo district received a report of the disappearance of Basajja Majidu, 42, a taxi driver and resident of Cell 4, Kahunga Ward, Ntungamo Municipality. After 21 days of searching, the case took a grim turn on May 31, 2026, when parts of his body were retrieved from River Rwizi.

According to police investigations, on May 9, 2026, a fellow taxi driver, Mbazira Ali, alias Uwasabimana, 33, a resident of Nyakakoni A Cell, Rukindo Ward, Mbarara City, picked up the deceased from his home under the pretext of travelling together to Kabale to arrange a vehicle deal. The two men, who were known to each other as friends and business associates in the taxi and vehicle brokerage trade, never completed that journey together.

Investigators established that the deceased was instead killed in Bwenkoma A Cell, Rukindo Ward, Mbarara City South Division. His body was subsequently cut into pieces, packed into sacks, and dumped into River Rwizi along the Mbarara bypass.

A critical break in the case came on May 19, 2026, at around 5:00 PM, when the key suspect was spotted in Ntungamo Town driving motor vehicle registration number UAW 562C, a super custom that had belonged to the deceased and had previously been in a garage in Mbarara before his disappearance. The sighting raised immediate suspicion, leading to the suspect’s arrest.

While in police custody, Mbazira Ali confessed to killing the deceased with the assistance of two other individuals, and to overseeing the dismemberment and disposal of the body.

The suspect alleged that the killing was driven by a financial grievance. He claimed that the deceased had defrauded him of 40 million Uganda shillings under the pretence of purchasing a drone taxi on his behalf, a sum he says was never accounted for, pushing him to take fatal.

Investigators have so far recovered the lower portion of the body, from the waist downwards, which has been transported to Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital mortuary, where samples have been taken for DNA analysis. The search for the remaining body parts is actively ongoing.

Two other suspects named in the investigation, Mugisha Valence and another individual known only as “Black,” both said to be residents of Ruti Ward, Mbarara City South Division, remain at large. Police say they are actively being tracked and are expected to be apprehended.

SP Kasasira Samson, PRO Rwizi Region, confirmed that investigations into the matter are continuing and urged anyone with information relating to the whereabouts of the suspects or any other details connected to the case to contact police immediately.

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