Episode Synopsis: The Death of Steven Kanumba

Steven Kanumba wasn't just Tanzania's biggest movie star, he was the face of an industry that believed it could rival Hollywood and Nollywood. Charismatic, ambitious, and adored across East Africa, his rise seemed unstoppable. Then, on the night of April 7, 2012, everything came to an abrupt end.

This episode retraces Kanumba's extraordinary rise from aspiring actor to the undisputed king of Bongo movies before meticulously reconstructing the final hours of his life.

In this episode of African Underbelly, we separate fact from rumor, revisit one of East Africa's most enduring cases, and ask a haunting question: How did the country's most celebrated actor die just as his biggest dreams were about to come true?

Abducted by the Lord's Resistance Army as a child, Dominic Ongwen grew into one of its most feared commanders, a transformation that would force the world to confront one of the hardest questions in international justice: can someone be both victim and perpetrator? This episode traces Ongwen's journey from kidnapped schoolboy to architect of massacres, rape, forced marriage, and the use of child soldiers, culminating in a landmark trial at the International Criminal Court that reshaped how the law understands responsibility, trauma, and accountability in war.

Akbar Godi is a former Member of Parliament in Uganda whose name became widely known in connection with a high-profile murder case in the early 2000s. His arrest and trial drew national attention, placing him at the center of one of the most widely followed criminal cases involving a former legislator.

In this episode of The African Underbelly, we revisit the documented events surrounding the case: his time in public office, the investigation that led to his arrest, the court proceedings that followed, and the public reaction that made the case a national talking point.

This is the story of Akbar Hussein Godi.