The police are asking the public to help identify a woman whose severed head and headless body were found at separate locations in Greater Masaka, as investigations continue into suspected serial killer and moneylender Kulaish Kamugisha.
Police spokesperson Kituuma Rusoke said no relative or friend has come forward to identify the woman since her headless body was recovered at Butale Cell, Zzinga village, in Kyanamukaka on September 29, 2026. This is despite investigations and the confessions Kamugisha has made. Her head was found at Kako Cell in Masaka District.
Police have released a reconstructed photograph of the woman and appealed to anyone who recognises her, or knows her relatives, to contact the authorities.
The suspect
Kamugisha, 35, also known as Fred Mujulizi, is a moneylender from Kasala in Nyendo-Mukungwe Division, Masaka City. He was arrested in October 2026 after police recovered a woman’s severed head wrapped in a white polythene bag at Kako Cell along the Kako-Mukungwe Road. Detectives then recovered the headless body.
Rusoke said Kamugisha confessed to decapitating the woman and mutilating her body, including removing her heart. Police recovered several pieces of evidence from the scenes but have not been able to establish who she was.
Kamugisha has also allegedly confessed to killing people in Nsangi, Wakiso district, and Sanga, Kiruhura district. Investigators are still following up on those leads. Police say he told them a traditional healer paid him Shs 2 million for every delivery of human body parts.
Claims versus evidence
The Chief of Defence Forces (CDF), Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, recently described Kamugisha as a serial killer accused of murdering and cannibalising at least 38 people across Masaka, Kazo, Ibanda and Kiruhura districts over 15 years.
Rusoke said that although Kamugisha has made confessions, police must establish their authenticity through scientific investigation and other evidence.
In court
On November 6, 2026, the Masaka Chief Magistrate’s court committed Kamugisha to the High Court for trial after prosecutors withdrew three charges, leaving one murder charge. His co-accused, Huzairu Kyambadde, who had been accused of procuring human body parts for witchcraft, was discharged after all charges against him were withdrawn.
Old cases reopened
The investigations have prompted police to reopen murder cases dating back to 2012 in Greater Masaka and other parts of the country. They include the killing of nine members of one family in Kyotera district in 2013 and the murder of six people from two families in Kyanamukaka Sub-county in late 2012.