Kampala, Uganda | By Michael Wandati | The General Court Martial has dismissed the case against seven senior police officers who had been charged alongside former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Gen Kale Kayihura, with aiding and abetting kidnap/illegal repatriation of Rwandan refugees, and failing to protect war materials.
The seven officers include Nixon Agasirwe, the former head of operations and former commandant at the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), Col Ndahura Atwooki, the former director of Crime Intelligence and Herbert Muhangi, the former head of the Flying Squad.
Others are; Richard Ndaboine, the former head of the Cybercrime Unit, Patrick Muramira, an operative in the Flying Squad, Jonas Ayebaza, a former Personal Assistant to former Inspector General of Police Gen Edward Kale Kayihura and Muyomba Kitagenda, an operative with the Flying Squad.
In a surprising turn of events on August 30, 2023, the state opted to withdraw the charges against Gen Kayihura, leaving his subordinates to face the legal battle without any witnesses presented by the prosecution.
The withdrawal letter, dated March 5, 2024, has been signed by Army Director of Prosecutions Lt. Col Raphael Mugisha, who did not provide an explanation for the decision to withdraw the charges.
The prosecution had previously alleged that on October 25, 2013, in Kamengo, Mpigi District, the seven police officers conspired with their former boss, Gen. Kale Kayihura, to kidnap three Rwandan refugees—Joel Mutabazi, Jackson Kaleemera, and Innocent Kaliisa—and forcibly transported them to Rwanda.
The eight police officers faced additional charges related to unlawfully permitting the issuance of firearms to Abdullah Kitatta, the then-leader of Boda Boda 2010, who was not authorized to possess military equipment.
Also Read: Burundian refugee incarcerated in Uganda: Is it another case of illegal police aided repatriations?
Furthermore, they, along with Gen. Kayihura, were accused of failing to account for firearms issued to specialized police units such as the Flying Squad, Special Operations Unit, Witness Protection Unit, and the Crime Intelligence Directorate unit of the police.
As a consequence of these charges, the senior police officers had been incarcerated for several months at the military police barracks in Makindye before being granted bail.
Abdullah Kitatta and his bodyguard, Detective Constable Sowali Ngobi, were later charged, convicted, and sentenced to eight years in prison in May 2019 for illegal possession of firearms and ammunition by the court’s then-chairman, Lt Gen Andrew Gutti. However, their sentence was subsequently reduced on appeal, leading to their release.
