Corporal Fatina Mukolerwa Missing As 21-Day Desertion Deadline Nears

Corporal Fatina Mukolerwa, a police officer attached to the Child and Family Protection Unit at Kasangati Police Station, has been missing for 18 days after she accused her superiors of corruption and interfering with the arrest of a violent suspect. Police say Mukolerwa was charged under the police disciplinary code but disappeared before she could be arrested.

Police spokesperson Kituuma Rusoke told URN that, contrary to earlier reports, Mukolerwa was never arrested. Rusoke said earlier reports from Kasangati Police indicating that the officer had been arrested were inaccurate, adding that she disappeared before police teams could apprehend her. He said Mukolerwa abandoned her office tools and police uniforms at the station but did not leave with a firearm.

Rusoke said police will wait for the expiry of the 21-day period before formally declaring her a deserter, in accordance with police regulations. “She is still charged, but she is nowhere to be seen. We are not looking for her, but we are waiting for the end of 21 days as the police standard laws stipulate that once a police officer goes missing for 21 days from her post of duty, she is declared a deserter,” Rusoke said.

An officer at Kasangati Police Station, who spoke to URN on condition of anonymity, said the team sent to arrest Mukolerwa found her room locked and her phones switched off. “Her phones are off and up to date, and we don’t know if she indeed escaped the police arrest, because the team that was sent to get her found her room closed up now. So we don’t know if she indeed escaped or she was taken by other arms in security, since her case involved big officials she accused,” the officer said.

Mukolerwa was last seen by her colleagues on September 12, shortly after she recorded a video accusing senior police commanders, including the Kampala Metropolitan Police Commander, ACP Ezekiel Ebapu Emitu, of interfering with a case she was investigating. The controversy arose from a domestic violence case registered at Kasangati Police Station under CRB 70/2024.

The complainant, identified only as Frank and reportedly a soldier, accused his wife, Sylvia Arinaitwe, in a long-running dispute over their matrimonial home in Bulamu, Kasangati, Wakiso District. Mukolerwa was the investigating officer in the case. According to Mukolerwa’s account, she sought guidance from the State Attorney, who directed police to arrest Arinaitwe, record her statement, and submit the file for sanctioning.

On September 12, Mukolerwa said she led an operation involving two other police officers and the area chairperson to arrest Arinaitwe. She alleged that Arinaitwe resisted arrest, became violent, and bit her hands, forcing her to start post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP). Mukolerwa said the suspect was eventually taken to Kasangati Police Station, where she allegedly threatened that she had powerful connections and would soon be released.

Mukolerwa further alleged that Arinaitwe contacted a Brigadier, who then contacted Kampala Metropolitan Police Commander ACP Ezekiel Ebapu Emitu, who allegedly directed the Kasangati Division Police Commander to release Arinaitwe on police bond. Mukolerwa subsequently recorded a video on TikTok accusing Emitu and other officers of corruption and interference with the administration of justice.

The video later went viral. However, Kampala Metropolitan Police defended the decision to release Arinaitwe, saying officers had established that her two children, including a seven-year-old, had been left unattended and locked outside the home during the arrest. Police also said Arinaitwe claimed that her husband was using the criminal case to evict her and the children from their home to sell the property.

Police subsequently described Mukolerwa’s conduct in the video as scandalous and unprofessional, saying officers should use established internal mechanisms, including the Professional Standards Unit, to raise grievances rather than social media platforms. Mukolerwa was subsequently charged under the police disciplinary code. However, before she could be apprehended, she disappeared from her duty station.

Her telephone numbers were switched off by the time of filing this story. If Mukolerwa does not return to her duty station before the 21-day period expires, police say she will be formally declared a deserter-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com

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