Molly Katanga displays scars from alleged late husband’s attack

Kampala businesswoman Molly Katanga, the key suspect in the death of her husband appeared in person on Thursday morning  at the High Court Criminal Division in Kampala to begin giving her defence. 

It was the first time in more than a year that Katanga has been physically present in the courtroom, having previously followed proceedings remotely from Luzira Women’s Prison due to ill health. 

As proceedings opened, Katanga removed her headscarf to reveal her shaved head, showing visible linear scars on the side and back of her skull.

The scars, she said in testimony, were sustained when her late husband, prominent businessman Henry Katanga, attacked her during a domestic altercation at their Mbuya Chwa II home in Kampala’s Nakawa Division in November 2023, the same incident that left Henry dead and brought her to trial. 

She presented the injuries today as part of her defence, insisting that she was a victim rather than a perpetrator. 

Henry was found dead on 2 November 2023, and Molly was arrested and charged with his murder. 

The prosecution alleges that she shot him and that she and co‑accused, including her daughters, a household worker, and a medical officer, attempted to conceal evidence after the fact. 

Earlier this year, presiding judge Justice Rosette Comfort Kania ruled that there was a prima facie case against Molly and her co‑accused, rejecting a defence bid for a “no case to answer”. 

The ruling means she must now offer explanations for key pieces of evidence against her, including forensic findings that her DNA was the most dominant on the alleged murder weapon, traces of gunshot residue on her hands, and a cut on her right little finger that the prosecution says could have resulted from mishandling the firearm. 

Katanga’s legal team has argued that the gunshot residue and DNA evidence can be explained by other circumstances, and that Henry’s behaviour in the days before his death , including intense stress and persistent headaches, contributed to the tragic outcome.

In court on Thursday, she testified that Henry had been under tremendous pressure from financial and personal challenges, and that the injuries she sustained were inflicted by him during an attack, not during the fatal incident itself.

The defence stage will see Katanga either give sworn testimony subject to cross‑examination, make an unsworn statement without cross‑examination, or remain silent — legal options permitted under Ugandan criminal procedure.