Security forces in Uganda have arrested Derrick Memory, aged 30, a resident of Karukara Trading Centre in Rukarara Village, Kihembe Sub-county, Kanungu District, in connection with the high-profile 2019 kidnapping of American tourist Kimbley Sue Endecott and her guide, Jean Paul Remezo. The abduction took place on April 2, 2019, along the Edward Track between Katoke Gate and Wilderness Camp in Queen Elizabeth National Park, a major tourism hub in southwestern Uganda.
The kidnappers, armed and masked, demanded a ransom of $500,000 (about 1.8 billion Ugandan shillings) for the safe release of the victims. While two other tourists, Julius Martin and Barbel, were left unharmed, the incident sent shockwaves through Uganda’s tourism and security sectors, prompting a nationwide manhunt.
According to Major Kiconco Tabaro, Public Information Officer for the UPDF 2nd Infantry Division, Memory had been hiding in North Kivu Province, DRC, where he collaborated with armed criminal gangs operating across the border. He was apprehended after sneaking back into Uganda through a porous border point. Upon arrest, security recovered wild animal products and military paraphernalia from him, further linking him to cross-border criminal activity.
Authorities are still pursuing three other suspects believed to be operating between Uganda and the DRC. The arrest marks a significant breakthrough in a case that had tarnished Uganda’s reputation as a safe tourist destination.