KAMPALA. At least 13 suspects, among them soldiers and civilians are being held at the Defence Intelligence and Security (DIS), formerly Chief of Military Intelligence (CMI), to help with investigations into the fake terror attacks that have rocked Kampala in the past .
Available intelligence information indicate that the suspects arrested include 10 soldiers of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF), from the rank and file, and three civilians who were working as informers under the Joint Anti-Terrorism Task force (JATT).
Military sources further reveal that these investigations that were instituted by the Chief of Defence Forces , Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, could affect other people yet to be arrested .
Among the latest detainees are three soldiers at the ranks of Captain and Staff Sergeant who were variously linked to the June 3 blasts near Munyonyo Catholic Shrine on the shores of Lake Victoria , where a woman allegedly attempting a suicide attack was killed, and another incident at Kalerwe market near the Northern Bypass where a suspected female bomber was shot dead and the alleged device d
etonated by security operatives. The Kalerwe incident triggered the arrest of at least five junior soldiers.
The plot, however, got thicker when the arrested soldiers mentioned Maj Gen Birungi, the former head of Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (now Defence Intelligence and Security or DIS), and his blue-eyed boys — Col Peter Ahimbisibwe, the Director Counterterrorism, and Lt Col Ephraim Byaruhanga, the head of Special Operations – as being responsible for sanctioning suspicious operations and directing subordinates to attribute the bomb threats to the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF).
Others who have been arrested and detained at Makindye Military Barracks prison over the fake blasts are Adil Walusansa and Hamza Lyavaara , both accused of working as ADF double agents.
The development follows last Friday interrogation of Maj Gen Birungi at the Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs Headquarters in Mbuya, Kampala.
This publication reported at the weekend that a high-level board of inquiry led by Lt Gen Sam Okiding, the Deputy Chief of Defence Forces, took charge of the grilling of the former spymaster for several hours. The board of inquiry was investigating alleged breaches into the country’s intelligence architecture and counterterrorism operations.
The interrogation came a month after two of Maj Gen Birungi’s blue-eyed boys — Col Peter Ahimbisibwe, the Director Counterterrorism, and Lt Col Christopher Byaruhanga, the head of Special Operations — had already been arrested on the same allegations.
“After a closed-door meeting, Birungi was disarmed by his escorts. They put him in a new car with escorts and drove him to Makindye police barracks where he is detained,” our source disclosed.
The probe accelerated after Maj Gen Birungi was reassigned earlier this year to the Mountain Division in Fort Portal, to oversee Operation Shujaa against the ADF in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Sources suggest his posting was a tactical move by CDF Muhoozi to facilitate the investigation.
Sources at Mountain Division who were working under Maj Gen Richard Otto before he was transferred to DIS, raised the alarm while reviewing the border surveillance.
The source said the teams found no signs of ADF infiltration and questioned how DIS in Kampala obtained intelligence that led to the death of two women labelled as suicide bombers.
“The findings prompted the CDF Gen Muhoozi to demand answers, and that’s how Maj Gen Birungi was again transferred from Mountain Division to be a defence attaché in Burundi [but was never allowed to proceed on the assignment],” a source said.
According to DIS’ preliminary findings, the committee discovered other irregularities after Maj Gen Otto, the Crime Intelligence Director, took over the command at the headquarters in Mbuya. The irregularities touch on issues of accountability, administration and corruption.
The findings reportedly trace the questionable bomb incidents that occurred three years back, including abandoned devices at Pastor Robert Kayanja’s Miracle Centre Cathedral in Rubaga, bombs in Nateete and other threats across Kampala.
However, these claims are still under scrutiny, with sources confirming that no concrete evidence has been found yet. Last month, a committee was established to investigate allegations that some elements within the UPDF had fabricated bomb threats in Kampala in order to access operational funding to cover the illicit activity. It remains to be seen whether the allegations leveled against the accused can be proven beyond reasonable doubt when the matter comes up soon in the general court martial.