KAMPALA.
The Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) have launched a crackdown on its own officers for reportedly masterminding a professional misconduct in the military intelligence unit.
The suspects under the custody of the Directorate of Defence Intelligence and Security (DIS) headquartered at Mbuya ,a Kampala City suburb may face charges of subversion when investigations are complete .
Maj Gen Felix Kulayigye, the director of Defence Public Information, on Thursday evening confirmed the arrest of officers but declined to reveal their identities.
“Arrests were made due to conduct contrary to professional standards,” he said.
The arrests, carried out at the DIS headquarters in Mbuya, are reportedly linked to the circumstances surrounding the investigation involving two suspected female suicide bombers who were killed by UPDF personnel in Kampala this month .
The security sources also said the arrests were linked to information indicating that the Joint Ant-terrorism Task Force (JATT) under DIS, had been infiltrated by the operatives of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a rebel group blamed for multiple terror attacks in Uganda.
The sources said the UPDF leadership has now ordered a multi-agency team to investigate the arrested officers on allegations that they had fabricated the recent Kampala bombs to secure operation funds.
The sources claimed that some officers from JATT staged the incidents to justify budgetary requests and access funds for counter-terrorism operations.
“The inquiry was prompted by growing concerns within the top UPDF leadership over inconsistencies in recent bomb threat reports attributed to the ADF, a designated terrorist organisation operating in eastern DR Congo and linked to Islamic militants,” the source said.
But Gen Kulayigye dismissed the claims, saying: “I have no information in that direction.” Nevertheless, a security official who preferred to speak to this publication without being named, said security cannot allow the internal systems to be compromised by self-interests because ADF is a real and persistent threat.