These news
papers!!!!! I’m the elected leader of Uganda. I have the ultimate mandate
to run the affairs .Now , I will no
longer tolerate a newspaper which is like a vulture .When the people are crying
the vultures are happy. Any news paper which plays around with regional
security , I will not tolerate it , I will just simply close it , finished ,the
end , Gasiya (rubbish)….These news papers must stop or we shall stop them. If
they want to continue doing business in Uganda , they must stop interfering
with security matters of the region. (KFM , Andrew Mwenda Live , 18th
April 2006, http://www.monitor.co.ug/specialincludes/mplsups/kfm/index.php)
We
are people in suits by day, but in uniform at night. We fought a liberation
war. Don’t play around with freedom fighters, you can see Mugabe. Liberation
armies are not like these mercenary ones which earn salaries. We fought and we
can still fight. Even if Morgan Tsvangarai had won, do you think Mugabe would
have accepted? Oh ho! You are playing with fire! (Museveni’s 2002 speech to his Parliament , The Monitor 15
march 2002)
General Sejusa, the whistle blower on the Muhoozi project: He has not returned from UK for fear of being arrested.
“… the reason I have written this letter, is in regard to the very serious allegations that have appeared in the press that IGP, Brig. MK, Gen. SS, one Kellen and others hatched an evil and extrajudicial plan of stage-managing the attack on Mbuya barracks [in March] so as to frame some senior members of this government especially I, [Prime Minister] Amama Mbabazi and CDF, Gen. Aronda and those perceived to be anti-Brig. Muhoozi project.( http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Probe-assassination-claims--says-Tinye/-/688334/1844358/-/fjq5ayz/-/index.html)
The Daily Monitor, Uganda’s most-read independent paper, published a private letter last week by General David Sejusa calling for an investigation into allegations of a plot “to assassinate people who disagree with this so-called family project of holding onto power in perpetuity”.
Brigadier Muhoozi Kainerugaba
Uganda’s media regulator warned it would “penalise” excessive coverage about the Sejusa letter and a court ordered the Daily Monitor to hand over the document, a decision the newspaper has appealed.
“The police showed up saying they have a warrant to search our premises for the Sejusa letter so they cordoned off our premises and started searching,” Don Wanyama, Daily Monitor managing editor, said.
First Son Muhoozi Keinerugaba leads members of the Airforce and Special
Forces in a parade during a recent Tarehe Sita (Army Day) celebrations
in Entebbe. PPU PHOTO
“Police have switched off our printing press, they have also shut down our website and our two FM radio stations and we’ve also learnt that the power distributor has been instructed to cut off our power supply.”
However, later in the day the Daily Monitor website was working again and its home page headline said “State should stop muzzling free press - Monitor Editors”.
Police said in a statement they searched the Daily Monitor premises after it ignored court orders to hand over the letter.
Uganda Human Rights Activists protest the closing of media houses
The newspaper management said the matter was still in the courts. The Uganda Journalists Union accused the police of trying to intimidate journalists to stop independent reporting and said press freedom was under threat.
Wanyama said the police detained and questioned him about the letter for six hours on Tuesday last week. Two senior reporters were also interrogated.
The letter by Sejusa, the head of internal security and long regarded as close to Museveni, has sparked a rare public debate on the issue of whether the 68-year-old president will step down at the end of his term in 2016.
Although hailed for restoring the rule of law and mending the economy after taking power following a five-year guerrilla war, Museveni has faced mounting accusations he is becoming just another African strongman presiding over entrenched corruption.
“… the reason I have written this letter, is in regard to the very serious allegations that have appeared in the press that IGP, Brig. MK, Gen. SS, one Kellen and others hatched an evil and extrajudicial plan of stage-managing the attack on Mbuya barracks [in March] so as to frame some senior members of this government especially I, [Prime Minister] Amama Mbabazi and CDF, Gen. Aronda and those perceived to be anti-Brig. Muhoozi project.( http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Probe-assassination-claims--says-Tinye/-/688334/1844358/-/fjq5ayz/-/index.html)
'Muhoozi Project': By Installing Son, Gen. Museveni Hopes To Defer Prosecution
Ugandan police raid newspaper
http://www.gulf-times.com/africa/243/details/353394/ugandan-police-raid-newspaper
Police raided Uganda’s leading independent
newspaper yesterday and disabled its printing press after it published a letter
about a purported plot to stifle allegations President Yoweri Museveni is
grooming his son for power, a senior editor said.
Speculation is growing that Museveni, in office since 1986 and one of Africa’s longest serving leaders, is lining up his son Kainerugaba Muhoozi to take power, a move that would likely test loyalties in Uganda’s ruling elite.
Speculation is growing that Museveni, in office since 1986 and one of Africa’s longest serving leaders, is lining up his son Kainerugaba Muhoozi to take power, a move that would likely test loyalties in Uganda’s ruling elite.
The Daily Monitor, Uganda’s most-read independent paper, published a private letter last week by General David Sejusa calling for an investigation into allegations of a plot “to assassinate people who disagree with this so-called family project of holding onto power in perpetuity”.
Uganda’s media regulator warned it would “penalise” excessive coverage about the Sejusa letter and a court ordered the Daily Monitor to hand over the document, a decision the newspaper has appealed.
“The police showed up saying they have a warrant to search our premises for the Sejusa letter so they cordoned off our premises and started searching,” Don Wanyama, Daily Monitor managing editor, said.
“Police have switched off our printing press, they have also shut down our website and our two FM radio stations and we’ve also learnt that the power distributor has been instructed to cut off our power supply.”
However, later in the day the Daily Monitor website was working again and its home page headline said “State should stop muzzling free press - Monitor Editors”.
Police said in a statement they searched the Daily Monitor premises after it ignored court orders to hand over the letter.
The newspaper management said the matter was still in the courts. The Uganda Journalists Union accused the police of trying to intimidate journalists to stop independent reporting and said press freedom was under threat.
Wanyama said the police detained and questioned him about the letter for six hours on Tuesday last week. Two senior reporters were also interrogated.
The letter by Sejusa, the head of internal security and long regarded as close to Museveni, has sparked a rare public debate on the issue of whether the 68-year-old president will step down at the end of his term in 2016.
Although hailed for restoring the rule of law and mending the economy after taking power following a five-year guerrilla war, Museveni has faced mounting accusations he is becoming just another African strongman presiding over entrenched corruption.
Monitor, Red Pepper not closed –
govt
Publish Date: May 22, 2013
KAMPALA - Internal affairs minister Hillary Onek has clarified that the Government did not close down Red Pepper, the Daily Monitor, Kfm and Dembe FM, but only asked to halt operations as the Police search for the letter authored by Gen. David Sejusa.
Delivering a statement to parliament on Wednesday, Onek said the search will go on until the letter and other documents relating to it are found.
Onek told Parliament that the duration of the search will depend on whether or not Daily Monitor and Red Pepper co-operate with the Police in their investigations. He, however, said Daily Monitor had to date failed to co-operate with the Police in its investigations.
“They refused to co-operate with the Criminal Intelligence and Investigations Directorate (CIID). Subsequently, the CIID got a court order under Section 38 of the Press and Journalist Act to compel them to co-operate,” Onek said.
He said even when the Press and Journalist Act, Section 2 gives the right to publish a newspaper, the right was not absolute, adding that the right to publish a newspaper cannot mean that journalists and publishers are free to commit crimes.
However, MPs tasked the minister to table before parliament a copy of the search warrant issued by court to enforce the search of the premises of the two media houses.
“A search warrant cannot allow you to stop the operations of any media house. How do you go and stop their operations,” asked Betty Amongi, the Oyam South MP.
MP Latif Ssebagala said: “If you are searching for the hard copy of the letter, it doesn’t mean that you should dismantle computers.”
Deputy Speaker Jacob Oulanyah, who presided over the House, directed that the minister tables the warrant before the end of the sitting and for debate to take place on the matter.
But by press time, the minister had not returned to the House with the copy of the search warrant.
On Monday, the Police cordoned off Daily Monitor and Red Pepper offices to carry out a search as part of investigations into the letter that appeared in the Daily Monitor of May 7, purportedly written by Gen. David Sejusa (Tinyefuza) to the director general of Internal Security Organisation.
Meanwhile the Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) has said the manner in which the Police cordoned off and searched the premises was in violation of the Constitution.
Addressing a press conference at their offices on Buganda Road, the acting chairperson of the commission, Stephen Basaliza, said press freedoms are the cornerstone of democracy, good governance and the rule of law and, therefore, need to be guarded jealously.
“The act of closing the media houses amounted to a denial of information to the public and as such a violation of freedom of press contrary to Article 29 (1) (a) of the Constitution and the right to seek, receive and impart information,” Basaliza said.
“The commission further notes that the method of operation and manner in which the media houses were cordoned off breach the fundamental principle of the inalienable right to a fair hearing,” he added.
President Museveni with his AK 47 Gun called Rwitabagomi( he that kills the stubborn ones)
The commission further said the move by the police to compel journalists to disclose their source of information is in contravention of their (journalists) ethical standards.
The commission urged the government to respect and uphold media freedoms. It also urged the police to strictly
abide by the provisions of the court order and to expeditiously complete the search exercise to allow normality to return in the media houses.
The agency urged media houses to perform their duties professionally and to act within the confines of the law while maintaining the highest ethical standards. Parliament was urged to review all laws that violate the freedom of the media.
Court cancels police search order of Monitor
http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Court-cancels-police-search-order-of-Monitor/-/688334/1860092/-/ef316r/-/index.html
By Charles Mwanguhya MpagiPosted Wednesday, May 22 2013 at 21:45
KAMPALA. Court has revoked the search warrant issued to the Police on Monday, noting the officers had overstepped the mandate given.
Nakawa Grade One Magistrate Rosemary Bareebe, in issuing yesterday evening’s vacation order, wrote that “in the process of execution of the said warrant, the mandate given by the warrant was overstepped.”
Monitor Publications’ Managing Director Alex Asiimwe, through lawyer James Nangwala, petitioned court, arguing that instead of carrying out the search as ordered by the court, Police had gone ahead to switch off two radio stations owned by Monitor Publications – and housed in the same building as the Monitor newspapers. They also switched off the Monitor printing press and locked out company employees.
The police had on Monday argued that the premises were a scene of crime. “Upon reading and considering the application for vacating the search warrant issued to D/ASP Mbonimpa Emmanuel on the 20th May 2013 and upon reading the affidavit of Mr Alex Asiimwe, the Managing Director of Monitor Publications dated 22 May 2013, It is hereby order that; the Search warrant issued to D/ASP Mbonimpa Emmanuel ...is hereby vacated in the exercise of the given to the court,” Ms Bareebe wrote.
The magistrate was “satisfied that in the process of execution of the said warrant the mandate given by the warrant was overstepped.” She ordered the police to immediately return the search warrant to the court.
Some of the Monitor Publications Ltd employees who we denied access to their offices on May 20, 2013. Photo/MONITOR
Nation Media Group chief operations officer Tom Mshindi welcomed the court’s decision. He said it was clear that the police had gone beyond the mandate given under the search warrant when in the process of the search they decided to switch off the two radio stations, 93.3 Kfm and 90.4 Dembe Fm, and the printing press.
“We are very excited with this development and hope that the police will speedily leave our premises. As far as we are concerned, this effectively ends the ordeal we have suffered and we are eager to resume our operations,” he said.
Mr Nangwala said the warrant in effect halts all police activity on the premises and the search. “We were unable to serve the police but at least they are aware that there is a vacation order,” he said.
But the officer in charge of media crime at the Criminal Investigations and Intelligence Directorate, Mr Fred Mirondo, who looked at the court order said: “We shall discuss tomorrow.”
Mr Asiimwe said they were happy with the results after following the due process of the law.
“Let us wait and see what happens tomorrow,” he added.
Daily Monitor, a subsidiary of the Nation Media Group, was raided by heavily armed police on Monday, waving a search warrant from court. They said they were searching for a document related to stories published by the Daily Monitor concerning a letter written by Coordinator of Intelligence Agencies, Gen David Sejusa. Gen Sejusa was warning of a plot to assassinate senior security officials, including himself, because of their alleged opposition to what he called the ‘Muhoozi Project’.
According to the letter the Muhoozi Project is a scheme by people close to the President to prepare the First Son, Brig Muhoozi Kainerugaba, to succeed President Museveni in power.
Gen Sejusa addressed the letter to the Director General of Internal Security Organisation, Col Ronnie Balya.
Last week, police interrogated Daily Monitor journalists Risdel Kasasira and Richard Wanambwa, authors of the story, as well as Managing Editor Don Wanyama.
The police are demanding that the Monitor reveal the source of the information and produce the letter.
So far the police have searched through all documents and computers in the different newsrooms at KFM, Dembe FM and the newspapers section. Nothing had been recovered so far.
Parliament asks Internal Affairs Minister to explain Monitor closure
By Daily Monitor & Agencies
Posted Wednesday, May 22 2013 at 17:20
Police
also shut down KFM and Dembe FM, the two radio stations owned and managed by
the Monitor Publications.
During the Tuesday plenary debate, a day after the two media houses were raided
by armed police personnel over their publication of parts of a letter allegedly
written by Gen David Sejusa, legislators insisted that the minister explains
why the media houses are still under siege.
Busiro
East MP Medard Segona raised the matter, asking Deputy Speaker Jacob Oulanyah
to put to task Minister Baba to explain the police siege.
Mr
Segona wondered whether the Coordinator of Intelligence Services, Gen Sejusa,
is a fugitive to make police and government demand for his letter from media
houses.
Police
said the siege and search was authorised by court.
In
the letter allegedly written on April 29 but first published in the local media
on May 7, Gen Sejusa alleges among others that President Yoweri Museveni is
fast-tracking his son, Brig Muhoozi Kainerugaba, to succeed him as president.
The
General further alleged in the letter that there is a plan to eliminate
political and military leaders opposed to the plan referred to as the
"Muhoozi Project". It is this letter that the police said they were
looking for when they raided the two media houses.
Minister
Baba told the House that he goes by the decision of the police and they
followed the law.
Mr
Stephen Ochola, the Serere
County MP,
wondered how radio stations were closed yet they had nothing to do with what
was published in the Daily Monitor.
Buikwe
South MP Lulume Bayiga asked whether the police had an order to close the media
houses yet what they got from court was a search warrant.
The
legislators said turning the headquarters of the closed media houses into
scenes of crime is sheer dictatorship which undermines media freedom.
Rights group criticises closure of the Monitor
http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Rights-group-criticises-closure-of-the-Monitor-/-/1056/1859056/-/12jt6ak/-/index.html
By LUCAS BARASA lbarassa@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Tuesday, May 21 2013 at 20:28
In Summary
- Human Rights Watch asked the Ugandan Government to immediately end the politically-motivated police intimidation of the media house. Senior Africa researcher Maria Burnett told the police to resolve legal disputes in courts without resorting to abusive tactics to scare away journalists from politically-sensitive stories.
Retired Ugandan Supreme Court judge George Kanyeihamba said the move “is an act of a brutal regime meant to suppress freedom of expression”.
Addressing a workshop organised by the Constitution and Reform Education Consortium at Hilton Hotel in Nairobi, Prof Kanyeihamba said the raid by the Ugandan police on the Monitor offices was against the country’s constitution.
“I was shocked by the news that the police raided media institutions that have remained independent and should be free to disseminate information and educate the public,” said Prof Kanyeihamba. He said it was needless to raid media houses or take them to court for doing their work.
The retired judge criticised President Museveni for using the police to intimidate opponents.
“Though the country is peaceful, democracy is at its rock bottom. The government is intolerant of the opposition. People who uphold the rule of law and the constitution have been silenced,” said Prof Kanyeihamba, who was among three out of seven Supreme Court judges who ruled that President Museveni’s election in 2006 was fraudulent.
Prof Kanyeihamba said the Museveni government was dismantling the constitution and that MPs were being used as puppets.
The retired judge led a team of eminent persons investigating corruption in the Kenyan Judiciary.
Human Rights Watch asked the Ugandan Government to immediately end the politically-motivated police intimidation of the media house. Senior Africa researcher Maria Burnett told the police to resolve legal disputes in courts without resorting to abusive tactics to scare away journalists from politically-sensitive stories. “Muzzling the media is a bad way to address Uganda’s political debates,” said Ms Burnett.
On Monday, police raided the newspaper’s premises in Kampala and declared it a “scene of crime” as they sought to obtain the source of an article by the Daily Monitor about the “Muhoozi Project”, an alleged plot to usher into power the son of President Museveni — Muhoozi Kainerugaba.
On May 7, 2013, the Daily Monitor published an article detailing an alleged conspiracy to eliminate high-ranking members of the government who do not support the succession plan.
The article was based on a leaked letter by Uganda’s coordinator of Intelligence Services, Gen David Sejusa, also known as Tinyefuza, to the director of the Internal Security Organisation calling for investigations into the plot.
Gen Sejusa, who is currently out of Uganda, has publicly confirmed that he wrote the letter.
Police search Monitor, Red Pepper
Publish Date: May 20, 2013
The Police on Monday surrounded and searched the premises of newspapers Daily Monitor in Namuwongo and The Red Pepper offices at Namanve.
The search, sanctioned through a court order, is intended to retrieve a letter allegedly written by Gen. David Sejusa, requesting the top military brass to among others investigate allegations of the assassinations of top military officers.
The said letter has in the recent past been the issue of discussion. In this letter, it is alleged that Gen Sejusa called upon the military high command to investigate the recent attack of Mbuya Barracks, the said assassinations of top military officers in the UPDF and the plan to move Brig. Muhoozi through the ranks at the expense of other officers.
Gen Sejusa has, however, not denied authoring the letter that has been at the centre of a number of media persons arrests of top journalists at the Monitor.
Patrick Mugumya, an employee of The RedPepper in Namanve earlier posted on his twitter microblog, “Loads of cops here at Red Pepper. They have search warrant. Signed by magistrate at Nakawa they want Sejusa Letter”.
PRESS
STATEMENT ON THE SEARCH OF THE NATION MEDIA GROUP ANDPEPPER PUBLICATIONS
Members of
the Uganda Police Force this morning cordoned off the premises of theNation
Media Group in Namuwongo and Pepper Publications in Namanve. The FMradio
stations - K FM and
Dembe FM were
taken off-air.
This is to
reassure Ugandans that the government is not interfering with press freedom.
The search
of the above premises comes on the heels of the utterances made by Gen.David
Sejusa, aka Tinyefuza which have caused undue excitement. This is beingtreated
as a matter of national security.
However the
police is working within the parameters of the law, specifically, section 37of
the Penal Code which bars the publication of information prejudicial to
nationalsecurity.The Police went through the due legal process and secured a
court order
which
wasissued by a court of competent jurisdiction (Nakawa Chief Magistrates Court).There is
therefore nothing untoward or surprising about the procedures used, as
greatcare has been taken to follow the law to the letter. For the time being
the premises inquestion are being treated as crime scenes.
As soon as
investigations are over
–
which will
be very soon as police is under instructions to handle the matter
expeditiously
–
the
premises will be duly handed backto the owners
Closed Uganda Newspapers’ Fate In Museveni’s Hands
http://chimpreports.com/index.php/news/10209-closed-uganda-newspapers%E2%80%99-fate-in-museveni%E2%80%99s-hands.html
The UPDF high Command is sitting at State House, Entebbe to decide the fate
of closed Ugandan media houses.
Chimpreports
has learnt that President Yoweri Museveni is chairing a meeting of top Generals
which will issue guidelines on how to deal with the closure of Red Pepper,
Daily Monitor and radio stations – Ddembe FM and KFM.
Operations
at the media houses were halted on Police orders on Monday after separate raids
by security personnel.
Activists
have condemned the raids and asked government to reopen the firms
unconditionally.
The
US Embassy in Kampala
has also weighed in, slamming government for suffocating free speech.
Amid
international condemnation, the UPDF Generals will today decide when the media
houses should be reopened.
However,
sources say some generals want Red Pepper and Monitor penalized for giving a
wide coverage to the Coordinator of Intelligence organs Gen David Sejusa
Tinyefuza’s “divisive remarks and harmful propaganda.”
Red
Pepper news editor, Ben Byarabaha said vendors who were found in possession of
Red Pepper copies today were arrested and detained.
“Taking
Red Pepper fight to the street is a clear indication that some elements in
government no longer want the newspaper on the street,” said Byarabaha,
“adding, “Our newspaper agents have gone into hiding because security was
asking them where they got the copies from.”
Kampala
Metropolitan Police Spokesperson Ibin Ssenkumbi could not be reached for
comment.
Byarabaha
further noted that journalists at the newspaper are now demoralized.
“But
we are not moved. We shall press on until we emerge victorious.”
Red
Pepper Marketing Director Arinaitwe Rugyendo also on Wednesday met the European
Delegation in Uganda
which promised to intervene and press government to reopen the closed
newspapers.
Meanwhile,
MPs today tasked Internal Affairs Minister Hilary Onek to explain circumstances
under which the media companies were put under key and lock.
“The
media houses have not been closed. Police are carrying out a search in
accordance with the law,” said Onek.
Uganda police holding our newspapers – Rwandan publishers
http://www.observer.ug/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=25428:uganda-police-holding-our-newspapers-rwandan-publishers&catid=74:breakingnews&Itemid=117
Wednesday, 22 May 2013 17:29
Police's continued closure of Daily Monitor and
Red Pepper is not only affecting Ugandans but has now crossed the borders into Rwanda,
The Observer has learnt.
“I am very concerned of my paper; my staff is
still also in Kampala
waiting when the siege will be over. My articles are getting expired in the
printer. The adverts I had run are expiring and printing cost together is huge
loss. The whole paper gross loss add up to USD $ 4, 000,” Jean G. Burasa,
Managing Director of Rushyashya newspaper is quoted by Great Lakes Voice
website.
“The only Rwanda printer we have is owned by
state broadcaster Orinfor; it’s costly and lacking management. Many times you
find that there are no papers, films etc… Monitor has been at our remedy for
many years now. There politics shouldn’t have affected our business, “Burasa
added.
Police could not be reached for a comment as Police Spokesperson, Judith Nabooka did not pick our calls.
Meanwhile Internal affairs minister Hillary Onek
today told Parliament that Red Pepper and Monitor Publications were not closed
and that “the right to publish a newspaper is not absolute”.
Onek said the police would carry on the search
until Gen David Sejusa’s letter on the “Muhoozi project” and other documents
are found. The MPs have demanded government to produce the search warrant
before the close of business today.
For the second day, both Daily Monitor – the
leading independent English language daily – and Red Pepper, a popular tabloid,
did not produce their usual editions. KFM and Dembe FM radio stations, owned by
Monitor Publications, also remained off.
Red Pepper, however, managed to produce some
copies, reportedly printed from other printers in the city. However, media reports
said the police was arresting vendors who sold the secretly-produced Red
Pepper. This suggests that not only are the police bent on keeping the media
houses closed, they were also outsmarted by Red Pepper, which hit the streets
without the cops realizing it.
KAMPALA
A senior member of the security forces has asked Internal Security Organisation (ISO) to investigate claims that top officials, including the chief of police, may have plotted to either assassinate, or frame, colleagues.
A member of the inner circle of Bush War comrades who fought alongside President Museveni between 1981-85, Gen. David Sejusa a.k.a. Tinyefuza, warns that “these are very serious allegations with potential to destabilise the country”.
His instructions are contained in an April 29 letter to the Director General at ISO which he confirmed having wrote. “Yes, I did author that letter sometime back and yes it is my letter,” he said yesterday.
The General also directs that the inquiry establishes if the plans to eliminate top officers, including himself, have anything to do with their opposition to the so-called “Muhoozi Project”.
“… the reason I have written this letter, is in regard to the very serious allegations that have appeared in the press that IGP, Brig. MK, Gen. SS, one Kellen and others hatched an evil and extrajudicial plan of stage-managing the attack on Mbuya barracks [in March] so as to frame some senior members of this government especially I, [Prime Minister] Amama Mbabazi and CDF, Gen. Aronda and those perceived to be anti-Brig. Muhoozi project.
Assassination allegations
“Further, you need to investigate the very serious claims that the same actors are re-organising elements of former Wembley under one police officer Ayegasire Nixon to assassinate people who disagree with this so-called family project of holding onto power in perpetuity,” he writes. Operation Wembley was a joint security response set up by the President Museveni in 2002 to combat run-away violent crime in Kampala and other parts of the country.
Gen. Sejusa writes that “indeed intelligence has picked some clandestine actions by this reckless and rather naïve actors to have some youth recruited as rebels and then frame some members of security services and key politicians perceived as anti-establishment.” The “Muhoozi project” he refers to is an alleged grand, though unspoken plan, to have the commanding officer of the Special Forces Command, Brig. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, replace his father as President.
Saleh issue
Gen. Sejusa, who is also the coordinator of intelligence services, refers to another message he sent to the director general voicing the concerns of serving officers at the involvement of Gen. Salim Salim in the army, matters of the economy and affairs of State.
A younger brother to the President, Gen. Saleh was formally retired from the army years ago although he was later appointed senior presidential adviser of defence and security. Yesterday, Gen. Saleh maintained that his position as a presidential adviser confirms that he has a role to play in the defence and security sector. “You very well know that I was appointed Senior Presidential Adviser on defence and security. I’m holding that office until March 1, 2015. True, I’m retired from the army, but I’m a senior presidential adviser and my contract was renewed last year until 2015,” Gen Saleh said in a telephone interview.
“I don’t understand him when he says I’m informally involved in the affairs of the army,” Gen. Saleh said. “My office is Bombo Military Barracks and I didn’t allocate it to myself. It’s absurd if he wrote that letter. He should make a public apology.” Additionally, Gen. Sejusa reflects on reports that Brig. Muhoozi was fast-tracked through ranks and how the so-called Muhoozi project was becoming divisive and a source of intrigue in the army.
Procedures
He said he has brought this and its possible consequences to the attention of the President.
But Gen. Saleh told the Daily Monitor that his colleague should be aware that there are clear procedures spelt out in the Constitution for one to be elected President. “I expected him (Sejusa) to be more informed on how someone becomes President. He is a long serving army officer and [one] expects him to know that” But Gen. Saleh, said he was shocked by the allegations made by Gen. Sejusa “He is abusing my intelligence and I didn’t expect such claims from a colleague like him.”
Police says
Police spokesperson Judith Nabakooba last evening said her boss, Gen. Kayihura, was engaged in a meeting and could not answer his phone. But, on her part, Ms Nabakooba said the matter was too sensitive to be answered by her. We were unable to get comment from Brig. Muhoozi and Special Forces Command spokesperson Edison Kwesiga, as their known phone numbers were not available. But Army spokesperson, Lt. Col. Paddy Ankunda, said the Force was unified.
Probe assasination claims, says Tinyefuza
http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Probe-assassination-claims--says-Tinye/-/688334/1844358/-/fjq5ayz/-/index.html
By RICHARD WANAMBWA & RISDEL KASASIRA
Posted Tuesday, May 7 2013 at 01:00
Posted Tuesday, May 7 2013 at 01:00
In Summary
Gen. Tinyefuza writes to ISO boss, calling for
investigations into reports that top military officers, including the
President’s brother, Gen. Salim Saleh, had hatched a plot to eliminate senior
government officials opposed to the ‘Muhoozi Project’.KAMPALA
A senior member of the security forces has asked Internal Security Organisation (ISO) to investigate claims that top officials, including the chief of police, may have plotted to either assassinate, or frame, colleagues.
A member of the inner circle of Bush War comrades who fought alongside President Museveni between 1981-85, Gen. David Sejusa a.k.a. Tinyefuza, warns that “these are very serious allegations with potential to destabilise the country”.
His instructions are contained in an April 29 letter to the Director General at ISO which he confirmed having wrote. “Yes, I did author that letter sometime back and yes it is my letter,” he said yesterday.
The General also directs that the inquiry establishes if the plans to eliminate top officers, including himself, have anything to do with their opposition to the so-called “Muhoozi Project”.
“… the reason I have written this letter, is in regard to the very serious allegations that have appeared in the press that IGP, Brig. MK, Gen. SS, one Kellen and others hatched an evil and extrajudicial plan of stage-managing the attack on Mbuya barracks [in March] so as to frame some senior members of this government especially I, [Prime Minister] Amama Mbabazi and CDF, Gen. Aronda and those perceived to be anti-Brig. Muhoozi project.
Assassination allegations
“Further, you need to investigate the very serious claims that the same actors are re-organising elements of former Wembley under one police officer Ayegasire Nixon to assassinate people who disagree with this so-called family project of holding onto power in perpetuity,” he writes. Operation Wembley was a joint security response set up by the President Museveni in 2002 to combat run-away violent crime in Kampala and other parts of the country.
Gen. Sejusa writes that “indeed intelligence has picked some clandestine actions by this reckless and rather naïve actors to have some youth recruited as rebels and then frame some members of security services and key politicians perceived as anti-establishment.” The “Muhoozi project” he refers to is an alleged grand, though unspoken plan, to have the commanding officer of the Special Forces Command, Brig. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, replace his father as President.
Saleh issue
Gen. Sejusa, who is also the coordinator of intelligence services, refers to another message he sent to the director general voicing the concerns of serving officers at the involvement of Gen. Salim Salim in the army, matters of the economy and affairs of State.
A younger brother to the President, Gen. Saleh was formally retired from the army years ago although he was later appointed senior presidential adviser of defence and security. Yesterday, Gen. Saleh maintained that his position as a presidential adviser confirms that he has a role to play in the defence and security sector. “You very well know that I was appointed Senior Presidential Adviser on defence and security. I’m holding that office until March 1, 2015. True, I’m retired from the army, but I’m a senior presidential adviser and my contract was renewed last year until 2015,” Gen Saleh said in a telephone interview.
“I don’t understand him when he says I’m informally involved in the affairs of the army,” Gen. Saleh said. “My office is Bombo Military Barracks and I didn’t allocate it to myself. It’s absurd if he wrote that letter. He should make a public apology.” Additionally, Gen. Sejusa reflects on reports that Brig. Muhoozi was fast-tracked through ranks and how the so-called Muhoozi project was becoming divisive and a source of intrigue in the army.
Procedures
He said he has brought this and its possible consequences to the attention of the President.
But Gen. Saleh told the Daily Monitor that his colleague should be aware that there are clear procedures spelt out in the Constitution for one to be elected President. “I expected him (Sejusa) to be more informed on how someone becomes President. He is a long serving army officer and [one] expects him to know that” But Gen. Saleh, said he was shocked by the allegations made by Gen. Sejusa “He is abusing my intelligence and I didn’t expect such claims from a colleague like him.”
Police says
Police spokesperson Judith Nabakooba last evening said her boss, Gen. Kayihura, was engaged in a meeting and could not answer his phone. But, on her part, Ms Nabakooba said the matter was too sensitive to be answered by her. We were unable to get comment from Brig. Muhoozi and Special Forces Command spokesperson Edison Kwesiga, as their known phone numbers were not available. But Army spokesperson, Lt. Col. Paddy Ankunda, said the Force was unified.
Sejusa dossier 'author' fears for her life
Monday, 20 May 2013 00:14
The woman who allegedly first published the
letter that eventually got Gen David Sejusa in trouble says she is scared for
her life.
Emerging from Sejusa’s shadow, Catherine Ddembe,
spoke to The Observer on Saturday, and told of deep-seated fears that some
people were following her and could try to kill her.
Ddembe became famous among internet users three
months ago when a letter, purportedly written by her, appeared on the internet,
detailing a plot to frame senior government officials in subversive activities.
The letter also spoke of plans to kill key figures allegedly opposed to what
has come to be known as the ‘Muhoozi project’.
The term refers to perceived attempts by
President Museveni to groom his son, Brig Muhoozi Kainerugaba, for the
presidency.
That letter was later picked up by Gen Sejusa,
who demanded an investigation, especially into the alleged threat to
anti-Muhoozi officials. Sejusa’s request kicked off a political storm that has
rocked the country for the last fortnight – and left Catherine Ddembe rattled.
“I have so many people calling me. Others pretend they are from the media and some are security people. I fear for my life,” Ddembe, a member of the opposition FDC, said in an interview at The Observer head offices in Kamwokya on Saturday. She appeared quite calm and was accompanied by a close friend and FDC activist, Robert Kavuma.
Ddembe says she will not despair.
“As a human being, you can be scared but you
reach a level where you say it is only God who can protect me. If [James] Kazini
[former army commander], who used to move with so many types of guns died
mysteriously, then how about me?”
Speaking about the controversial letter, Ddembe
roundly denies ever writing it, saying someone only used her name to post the
document on social media
“First of all, the document was not signed. I was
so happy when [General David] Sejusa said let this document be investigated,
why don’t they investigate? I don’t know why they are interested in using my
name. I thought they meant another person who shared my name,” she said.
Wafula Oguttu, the FDC spokesperson, said on
Saturday that Ddembe told the party she didn’t know about the document.
“She told us that someone simply used her name
but that she did not write it,” Oguttu said.
The Ddembe document was largely ignored until Gen
Sejusa, the coordinator of intelligence services, followed it up and demanded a
probe into the alleged plot. Sejusa, who is in Europe,
has since been placed under investigation on suspicion of subversive
activities, and faces arrest when he returns. President Museveni has demanded
that Sejusa should apologize for his subsequent remarks, or face arrest.
Mystery plot
Part of the letter Ddembe allegedly authored says
that around September 2012, she was requested by her friend Ssebina
[Ssekitoleko] to meet one of President Museveni’s loyal generals to discuss
some urgent matters. She says she agreed to meet the loyal general in his
office in Kampala
“He asked me to do a mission for him and in return,
I would be paid whatever I wanted,” reads the letter, addressed to President
Museveni.
The general allegedly wanted Ddembe to visit her
friend Michael Kabaziguruka, the vice chairman of the FDC Electoral Commission
at Luzira prison, where he was remanded on treason charges. She was to convince
Kabaziguruka, and Frederick Namara, a former soldier with the Presidential
Guard Brigade [PGB], to confess that they were part of a rebellion led by
former FDC leader Dr Kizza Besigye.
“I got worried when [the general] also asked me
to say that the Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi, Chief of Defence Forces General
Nyakairima, General David Tinyefuza, and others were the funders and leaders of
this rebel group ... If Kabaziguruka and the others agreed to cooperate, they would
get their freedom and Shs 200m each,” reads the document.
Ddembe also purportedly heard the loyal general
receive a phone call from someone he kept on referring to as MK, but which is
generally taken as a reference to another of the president’s trusted generals.
The loyal general reportedly told MK that he had
received reports that the Besigye/Mbabazi/Tinyefuza group were planning to
ambush the prisons vehicle that was transporting the Kabazigurukas to court and
kill the suspects in order to stop them from talking.
Ddembe on Saturday roundly denied ever meeting the loyal general.
Ddembe on Saturday roundly denied ever meeting the loyal general.
“I have never met him physically. I always see
him in newspapers.”
But according to the letter, the loyal general
also reportedly told MK that the group had some rebel troops already stationed
in Kampala and
were planning to attack Mbuya military barracks, Naguru police barracks and
other isolated police stations in central region.
Informed fiction?
The letter has split opinion as regards its
genuineness. While some people see it as a window into how the intelligence
organs operate, others fear it could be fiction, whose purpose may be yet
indiscernible.
Yet there are minor coincidences that suggest the
letter should at least be looked at critically. For instance, the letter spoke
of attacks on police stations like Mbuya, weeks before the March 4 attack on
Mbuya army barracks. It is instructive that, the army said the Mbuya attack was
“stage-managed”, ostensibly to create a façade of imminent insurgency.
The letter also draws a link with what had been
unfolding during the trial of the five FDC members linked to rebellion,
including Kabaziguruka. In October 2012, the media reported that court had
banned counter-terrorism police from escorting the five treason suspects.
“Having police officers in black, armed with guns
and escorting the accused in the instant case and waiting for them around court
amounts to torture on the accused,” said Nakawa Court Magistrate Gladys
Kamasanyu.
On Saturday Ddembe acknowledged visiting
Kabaziguruka at least thrice every week while he was at Luzira prison. When
asked why she made such frequent visits, she responded, “He is very close to
me.”
She also stood as one of the sureties for
Kabaziguruka and managed to secure Shs 5m for his release. She said: “I was in
the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting and I told party members that
Michael was granted bail and was required to pay Shs 5m. I worked hard to
fundraise the money from members and some of the funds came from the [party
president] Muntu’s pockets.”
Ddembe told us that some people had asked her to
meet the president. “I cannot meet him [Museveni] because I’m not part of
their problems. Why should my name be dragged in a fight of generals?”
Ddembe said she had consulted many people,
including religious leaders, who advised her to seek solace in God. She, however,
said the opposition needed to prepare itself in light of Sejusa’s comments.
Before the circulation of this document, Ddembe,
an FDC councillor in Mpigi district, was largely associated with opposition
politics. She had been arrested a number of times and was held in Luzira prison
for a few days. She was also acquitted of murder charges in relation to the
slain police officer John Michael Ariong who was hit with a stone during a
protest march against the poor state of Kafumbe-Mukasa road in Kampala in 2012.
Behind The Tinyefuza-Aronda “Assassination Document”
http://chimpreports.com/index.php/mobile/news/10005-behind-the-tinyefuza-aronda-%E2%80%9Cassassination-document%E2%80%9D.html
The author of the controversial document further
alleged police boss Lt Gen Kale Kayihura intended to frame senior government
officials in a coup plot.
State House sources told Chimpreports that Museveni
personally directed his Counter Intelligence desk to “find who wrote that
document and the motive.”
Kayihura has since denied being part of the
conspiracy to make up evidence and contrive events so as to incriminate Chief
of Defence Forces (CDF), Gen Aronda Nyakairima, Coordinator of Intelligence
Organs, Tinyefuza and Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi in subversive activities.
The letter was allegedly authored by FDC Mpigi
Councilor Catherine Ddembe to President Yoweri Museveni, seeking an appointment
to divulge more details on the plot.
Contacted, Ddembe said she had never met Kayihura
at anytime and anywhere in the country or overseas. “I only see Kayihura on
television and in newspapers. Why would I meet him?” wondered Ddembe.
Asked whether she has ever written to President
Museveni, Ddembe retorted: “my only President is Besigye. Even if it means
dying without writing to Museveni, I will.”
According to the document, Ddembe allegedly said
she met “General Kayihura at his office at Police Headquarters on Parliamentary Avenue
where the Police boss allegedly asked her to do a mission for him “and in
return, I would be paid whatever I wanted.”
It reads in part: “He (Kayihura) offered to give me
a title for a house in Kampala
and a scholarship abroad for further studies. He wanted me to visit my friend
Michael Kabaziguruka, the Vice Chairman FDC Electoral Commission at Luzira
Prison, where he was remanded on treason charges to convince him as well as
Frederick Namara who was once your soldier in PGB and others that were facing
similar charges to confess to having been rebels.”
It further states: “Dr. Kizza Besigye he said is a
problem with his attempts to overthrow government. He wanted me to convince
Kabaziguruka to give a written confession saying this. I got worried when he
also asked me to say that the Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi, the Chief of
Defense Forces General Nyakairima, General David Tinyefuza, and others were the
funders and leaders of this rebel group.”
“As a supporter of FDC, you know that I do not
support the People's Redemption Army. If Kabaziguruka and the others agreed to
cooperate, they would get their freedom and 200 million shillings each.”
Kayihura denies the charge: “This is work of
fiction by very evil and malicious persons. I have never met; talked to Dembe
Catherine, let alone what is being alleged here,” said Kayihura shortly after
the document surfaced on the popular online forum Ugandans At Heart (UAH).
He added: “The alleged meetings and
conversations simply did not happen. Preliminary investigations clear show that
the letter itself is fictitious. I did not realize how evil, diabolical some
human beings can be!”
“No wonder, they crucified Jesus, and this
weekend have no shame celebrating his resurrection (Easter-Ed).”
Sources have intimated to Chimpreports that
following the circulation of this document online, Kayihura telephoned
Museveni, saying negative elements were working towards fracturing his
relations with Mbabazi, Aronda and Tinyefuza.
Museveni later received the copy of the document
before ordering an investigation.
Museveni, sources say, fears the letter was a
handiwork of a clandestine political wing of a rebel movement in the country.
“The authors of the document intend to capitalize
on clashes and lack of harmony among top security chiefs to fail the government
from within as it happened before the overthrow of Milton Obote and Idi Amin,”
said a security source.
This website recently contacted Kabaziguruka who
was recently detained over his alleged connection to subversive groups.
“I would not want to discuss such matters. But I
don’t think that letter is genuine,” he said.
Below is the letter that has sent
shockwaves in the army
His Excellency Yoweri Kaguta Museveni
The President of Uganda,
P.O.Box 25497
State House,
KAMPALA.
January, 20th,2013
Yours Excellency. I am Catherine Ddembe, the FDC
councilor of Mpigi district and a close friend of Ssebina Ssekitoleko your NRM
mobiliser for several years.
Around September 2012, I was requested by friend
Sebina to meet the Inspector General of Police, Lt. General Kale Kayihura to
discuss some urgent matters. I agreed to meet General Kayihura in his office at
Police Headquarters on Parliamentary
Avenue, he asked me to do a mission for him and in
return, I would be paid whatever I wanted.
He offered to give me a title for a house in Kampala and a scholarship
abroad for further studies. He wanted me to visit my friend Michael
Kabaziguruka, the Vice Chairman FDC Electoral Commission at Luzira Prison,
where he was remanded on treason charges to convince him as well as Frederick
Namara who was once your soldier in PGB and others that were facing similar
charges to confess to having been rebels.
Dr. Kizza Besigye he said is a problem with his
attempts to overthrow government. He wanted me to convince Kabaziguruka to give
a written confession saying this.
I got worried when he also asked me to say that the
Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi, the Chief of Defense Forces General Nyakairima,
General David Tinyefuza, and others were the funders and leaders of this rebel
group.
As a supporter of FDC, you know that I do not
support the People's Redemption Army. If Kabaziguruka and the others agreed to
cooperate, they would get their freedom and 200 million shillings each.
I was scared, but I still went to visit the
prisoners. ln fact, I visited them many times but my conscience was not clear.
I even went to Nakawa court when they were taken there. Ssebina drove me all
the times and I felt I could not say no. My friend's reaction to my offer was
of suspicion.
They claimed that they had been framed regarding
rebel activities, and were not willing to confess in case they ended up in jail
forever.
Then they told me some other FDC member had also
approached them telling them that they were to be poisoned in prison. They told
me to go talk to their lawyer Rwakafuzi. When I reported back to the IGP, he
said he would talk to Rwakafuzi himself. I did not tell Kale of the poison
threats on the prisoners.
A few days later, Kale called me and informed me
that Rwakafuzi had refused the offer and said that his clients were innocent in
the first place. Then Kale told me to continue engaging my friends at Luzira to
convince them that they would find them another lawyer.
He even offered to pay their legal fees and upon
their release they would be paid 400 million shillings each. I went to talk
with Kabaziguruka and Namara again but they refused saying they would die.
Kabaziguruka refused saying that in his life he had never met with Mbabazi,
Sejusa and Aronda and he can't help NRM sort out its internal fights.
As for Besigye, Kabaziguruka said that he will die
first before implicating his President. When I reported back to Kale, he became
angry and insisted that I must finish my mission since he had already arranged
a meeting for me with you during your visit to his father's memorial service in
Kisoro last October.
After that I went back and met Kabaziguruka and
Namara while they were appearing at Nakawa High Court but again they refused.
On Independence Day, Kale called me and informed me
that he would skip the Independence
celebrations at Kololo and that I should meet him in Muyenga Community Police
Post. I wondered why the IGP would miss the Golden Jubilee celebrations and
want to meet me.
When I arrived, Kale accused me of not doing enough
to convince my friends at Luzira to cooperate and yet this operation was blessed
by you. He talked a lot about how this operation began Your Excellency, I beg
to meet you and tell you more when it is us two.
He told me that the arrest of Kabaziguruka and
friends was a set up. This is also what
Kabaziguruka had been telling me when I visited
him. But Kale said it was your Special Forces that planted those guns. Afande
Brig. Muhoozi Kainerugaba had assigned his most trusted soldier, Captain
Kashakamba to carry out the operation. I did not believe him and told him that
I was scared and wanted to get out of these things.
I feared also now that I would be killed. Kale gave
me 20 million shillings to continue with Kabaziguruka group until they agreed
to the deal. 20 million was supposed to take care of their families and their
welfare at Luzira.
Kale told me that he had deployed police escorts to
guard the Kabazigurukas on the way to and from Nakawa High Court and that this
was a way of putting pressure on them to show them that they had no alternative
but had to accept his offer.
While we were seated together, Kale received a
phone call from someone he kept on calling as MK. He told him that he had
received reports that the Besigye/Mbabazi, Aronda,Tinyefuza group was planning
to ambush the prisons vehicle that was transporting the Kabaziguruka's to court
and kill the suspects in order to stop them from talking.'
In addition to this, he reported to the same MK
that the group had some rebel troops already in Kampala and were planning to
attack Mbuya Miltary Barack Naguru Police Barracks and other isolated police
stations in central Region.
And then Kale told MK that he had requested for 127
billion shillings to sort this out and they were delaying' He also said on
phone that the request was sent to Finance under "supplies" and they
were delaying. He told the person on the other side of the phone that they
would put pressure on Finance through you since the rebels were becoming
stronger.
When he got off the phone, Kale told me that since
the Kisoro meeting with you did not happen' he wanted me to meet you at another
time. He told me to tell you that my friends in Luzira had confessed in me that
the leaders of their rebel group were NRM leaders in the army and in the party
and that also Besigye had carried the other army generals to meet to the Kabaka
at his palace in Banda where Kabaka had given his blessing.
He also told Muganda me that since the inmates
refused to confess, my story would be enough. I am a Your Excellency. I cannot
speak about the Kabaka like that.
Your Excellence I decided then that i was going to
go in hiding. This man was using your name and I did not feel safe. To know
Kale is doing a bad thing, he said he would travel with Ingrid Turinawe our
chairperson of FDC women’s League to Norway. From Norway he wanted to buy a confession from a man
called Frank Atukunda who is a political refugee in Norway.
But when I asked Ssebina why Norway, he told me, Kale was going to Rome for an International
police conference. Ssebina told me that I should not talk' nobody knew he was
going to Norway and everyone
thinks he will be in Rome.
Kale would fly to Thailand
to meet you and hand over the confessions he gets in Norway himself.After this, I got
scared and decided to go hide in the village for some time. My conscience was
not clear so I asked my relatives and some party members what to do.
I was advised to run away from Ssebina and Kale
because they are dangerous and powerful. Can you imagine Your Excellence, that
Ssebina is so powerful that even Kayihura took him to address the police
council? Also Ssebina moves with 5 guns in his car.Your Excellency, I have
written to you because I fear for my life.
These people are using your name' I am also seeking
audience to tell you more. The recent problems in Kampala must be the work of
IGP Kayihura and Ssebina and their people to justify the existence of the rebel
group' I say this because I have heard Ssebina boasting that these killings are
being done by a unit in police headed by a man called Nixon.''
REBEL THREATS IN NEW TWIST: Acidic Document Detailing ‘War Plans’ by Top Regime Officials Nyakayirima, ‘Tinyefunza’ and Mbabazi Rattles Police Supremo Lt. Gen. Kale Kayihura
By Robert Atuhairwe 30th,
March 2013
ARE THEY FOES? Nyakayirima pips Kayihura with the Lt. Gen. Rank early last year
As we write this, the Inspector General of Police
(IGP), Lt. Gen. Kale Kayihura, is in a tight fix after anonymous persons began
circulating a raucous document in which he is said to have held a series of
meetings with opposition activists, allegedly to hatch evidence that fellow
security top officials were hatching a plot to overthrow President Yoweri
Museveni’s government.
The document, addressed to President Yoweri
Museveni is allegedly written by Catherine Dembe, an FDC counselor at Mpigi
district who was reportedly conscripted by a close confidant of Kayihura in the
name of Sebina Ssekitoleko to allege that powerful Prime Minister, Amama
Mbabazi, CDF, Gen. Aronda Nyakairima and Co-ordinator of Intelligence Services,
Gen. David Tinyefuza were in cohorts with FDC leader, Kiiza Besigye to take out
the Government by force of arms.
The hair-raising dossier claims Ms. Dembe, whose
existence we are yet to confirm was approached to seduce jailed FDC official,
Mr. Michael Kabaziguruka, who is in Luzira jail on treason charges, to confess
to the crime and frame his boss alongside Government top men, Gen. David
Ssejjusa aka Tinyezufa, Premier Amama Mbabazi and CDF, Gen. Aronda
Nyakayirima.
She was reportedly promised 200million shillings
for her work and scholarship abroad. She was to claim that the said plotters
were responsible for the People’s Redemption Army (PRA) said to be in DR Congo
and also blame them for attacks on security installations in Kampala.
Kayihura and Aronda aren’t known to be in good
terms which the author of the document seems much aware of. It was however
shocking to hapless Ugandans who first landed on the writing and duly notified
us when they saw Mbabazi and Tinyefuza’s names. Tinyefuza is of recent very
outspoken, warning on bad governance and citizen practices. In fact many people
took his attacks on his government over ‘torturing people before cameras’ as an
indirect attck on Kayihura. And Mbabazi is heavily rumored to be at colds with
his boss Museveni.
Interestingly, though the contents of the letter
are owned by Dembe in the very first line, it’s signed off by a one Bayera
Gacumba. Immediately Kayihura got wind of the report he denied it in absolute
terms, sending off a feel of bitterness in the process. This is his take:
“This is work of fiction by very evil and
malicious persons. I have never met; talked to Dembe Catherine, let alone what
is being alleged here. The alleged meetings and conversations simply did not
happen. Preliminary investigations clear show that the letter itself is fictitious.
I did not realize how evil, diabolical some human
beings can be! No wonder, they crucified Jesus, and this weekend
have no shame celebrating his resurrection.” The Investigator will
bring you updates on this shocking development:
Tinye’s Letter Of Resignation From UPDF
http://chimpreports.com/index.php/news/9982-tinye%E2%80%99s-letter-of-resignation-from-updf.html
As the country holds its breath ahead of Coordinator
of Intelligence Organs, Gen David Sejusa’s (Tinyefuza) return from UK, Chimp
Corp takes you back to 1997 when the controversial army officer attempted to
quit the UPDF.
By
11/05/2013 09:45:00
Tinyefuza in 1996 wrote to President Yoweri Museveni,
notifying him of his intentions to resign from UPDF.
He cited harassment by UPDF leaders following his
testimony to a parliamentary committee that was investigating the causes of the
protracted war in northern Uganda.
He said the army bosses were corrupt and inefficient; a
reason the insurgency in Northern Uganda was
taking long to come to an end.
However, Museveni refused to append his signature on
Tinyefuza’s resignation letter, saying the flamboyant General had not fully
complied with UPDF’s conditions of service.
Angered by the President’s reaction, Tinyefuza rushed to
the Constitutional Court
in 1997 claiming he had ceased being a soldier when he was appointed a
presidential advisor on military affairs in 1993 and won the case.
However, his victory was short-lived.
The state successfully appealed to the Supreme Court
which overturned the Constitutional
Court’s ruling.
It maintained that Tinyefuza was still a serving member
in the army.
He was skillfully contained and retained in the army, a
move that later saw the embattled General reconcile with the
Commander-in-chief.
However, it was not until early this year that Tinyefuza
moved to challenge the status quo by authoring controversial letters to the
media, accusing UPDF bosses of having stage-managed the Bombo Military Garrison
attack to frame officers who are opposed to Brig Keinerugaba Muhoozi’s rise to
Presidency.
It is feared Tinyefuza will be arrested as soon as he
arrives at Entebbe
International Airport
today Saturday.
Re: Resignation From UPDF and High
Command
Your Excellency,
With great difficulty, I have decided to resign as a
Member of the Uganda
People’s Defence Forces and also resign from the UPDF. There are several
reasons but most important among those is that I feel I am unjustly being
harrassed over my testimony before that Parliamentary Committee on Defence and
Internal Affairs.
To require me to appear before the High Command so that Action is taken against me is rather too high handed.
I will state my reasons briefly:-
Article 90(1) of the Uganda Constitution 1995, states among other things that ‘Parliament shall appoint standing committees and other committees necessary for the efficient discharge of its functions.’
Then Article 90(A) says ‘In the
exercise of their functions under this Article, committees of Parliament 90(4)
may call any Minister or any person holding public office and private
individuals to submit memoranda or appear before them to give evidence.’
Article 90(4) (c) “shall have powers
of the High Court for (i) Enforcing the attendance of witnesses and examining
them on Oath Affirmation or otherwise, (ii) Compelling the production of
Documents and (iii) issuing a commission or request to examine witnesses
abroad.”
As can be seen from the above, I did appear before the
Parliamentary Committee on Defence and Internal Affairs under Article 90(4)
(c). Its terms of reference were set by Parliament.
These include among others –
(a) Give evidence as to the causes of Kony War;
(b) Why it has taken Government so long to end that war;
(c) The effects of that war on the Country;
(d) How that war can be ended.
It is in light of the foregoing that I appeared before the Committee and gave testimony. In so doing I may have displeased a few people but when giving Evidence under Oath you do not do so to please people but to tell the truth, something I did very well in my view as a matter of fact.
There are many things which remained unsaid, which in my
view thought were not good for National Security and in any case which may not
have had serious bearing on the subject matter before the Committee.
This goes to prove that whatever was said was in good faith and to try to help this Country end the prevailing wars all round. I wish to state that:-
(a) I did not request nor volunteer to appear before this Committee.
(b) Was summoned by it.
(c) The Summons were served on the Army Commander who
only informed me. The terms of Reference which allow the press a free access
were not set by me.
(d) In my view, a Parliamentary
Committee on Defence and Internal Affairs has a right to know matters
concerning the Army and war. After all that is why it was set up. Article 42 of
our Constitution requires that any person appearing before any administrative
official or body has a right to be treated justly and fairly and shall have a
right to apply to a Court of law in respect of any Administrative decision
taken against him or her.
I am of the strong view that I will not have that
Constitutional right before the UPDF High Command for obvious reasons. It is
therefore, because of the above that I must resign from the Army and
subsequently its High Command.
I find it unjustified to continue serving in an
institution whose bodies I have no faith in or whose views I do not subscribe
to.
I must say sir, that it was a privilege and an honour to serve the National Resistance Army and the UPDF and more particularly to serve under you.
I must say sir, that it was a privilege and an honour to serve the National Resistance Army and the UPDF and more particularly to serve under you.
As one said, I owe much to your wise
guidance and kindly for bearance. I know my own faults very well and I do not
suppose I am an easy subordinate; I like to go my own way. But you have kept me
on the rail’s in difficult and stormy times, and have taught me much. For all
this, I am grateful. And I thank you for all you have done for me.
Needless to say, it has been a great honour to have been a Member of this Historic Army and Mission.” We have achieved much in war; may we achieve even more in peace.
Needless to say, it has been a great honour to have been a Member of this Historic Army and Mission.” We have achieved much in war; may we achieve even more in peace.
Your Very Devoted Commorade,
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DAVID-TINYEFUZA -MUWUNGU-BWAJOJ O
MAJOR GENERAL
MAJOR GENERAL
