crime 19 April 2026 Daily Monitor (Uganda)
Ggaba Toddler Killings: Doctor Reveals Suspect's Past Suicide Thoughts and Stepbrother Murder Confession
A police surgeon testified that Christopher Okello Onyum, accused of murdering four toddlers at a Ggaba daycare, had previously contemplated suicide and admitted killing his stepbrother to spare him life's hardships. Despite a history of mental illness with hallucinations, the suspect appeared calm and rational during his April 7 examination, attributing the killings to beliefs in wealth via human sacrifice. Source: https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/ggaba-kindergarten-killings-suspect-contemplated-suicide-in-the-past-says-doctor-5429486
Christopher Okello Onyum, a 39-year-old Ugandan-American on trial for the April 2, 2026, murders of four children at Ggaba Early Childhood Development Program in Kampala, shared disturbing details during a police medical exam.
Dr. Emmanuel Nuwamanya, a 52-year-old deputy director of police health services and psychiatrist based at Nsambya, examined Onyum on April 7 under Ggaba Police Station reference CRB206/2026. He documented physical injuries from blunt force on Onyum’s forehead, eye, abdomen, and back, all healing and about three to four days old.
Mentally, Onyum was cooperative, coherent, with intact memory and good judgment. However, he believed wealth came from human sacrifice, citing childhood folktales, and explained the toddler killings as a pursuit of fortune.
Onyum disclosed a history of mental illness from 2016 to 2025 involving auditory and visual hallucinations, a 2016-2017 killing of his 2-3-year-old stepbrother to ‘save him from troubles,’ and a 2023 suicide attempt. He also mentioned sickle cell disease treatment. Dr. Nuwamanya noted signs of past psychotic episodes but found no active symptoms influencing the crimes, as verification lacked medical records.
During cross-examination, the doctor clarified that individuals with mental conditions can function normally between episodes, capable of driving or entering contracts. The judge admitted the police Form 24 (PE7) as evidence.
This testimony emerged in the High Court at Ggaba before Justice Alice Komuhangi Khaukha.
Source: Daily Monitor (Uganda)