KAMPALA, UGANDA — Ugandan authorities announced on Monday the apprehension of a primary suspect linked to the armed kidnapping of an American tourist and her driver in Queen Elizabeth National Park in 2019.
Kimberly Sue Endicott and her Ugandan guide, Jean Paul Mirenge were abducted on April 2, 2019. The perpetrators, who were armed, subsequently demanded a ransom of $500,000 using their victims’ cell phones for their release.
Following negotiations involving officials from both Uganda and the United States, the hostages were freed four days later. Details regarding the payment of the ransom were not disclosed.
“The joint security forces finally got the key suspect, Derrick Memory, who has been on the run since 2019,” military spokesman Major Kiconco Tabaro informed Vivid Voice News.
According to Major Tabaro, Memory had been in hiding in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), “where he was involved in other criminal activities.”
Ugandan forces had been tracking the suspect and successfully apprehended him in the western district of Kanungu on May 4, he stated. “This is a major breakthrough,” Major Tabaro emphasized, further asserting the authorities’ commitment “to assure tourists and the public that Uganda is safe and those who plan to destabilise our country will be got and firmly dealt with.”
During the initial stages of the investigation in 2019, police arrested another individual, Onesmus Byaruhanga, then 43 years old. He was accused of aiding the kidnappers and currently faces charges of kidnapping and aggravated robbery.
