A joint Police Task Force has finally arrested two more powerful Police officers, over accusations of torturing Kamwenge Mayor, Godfrey Byamukama and other suspects in the killing of police spokesperson, Andrew Felix Kaweesi.
Those arrested in the latest sweep are Moses Kasiba and Abdul Ssemujju alias Minana. They join Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Patrick Munanura, ASP Fred Tumuhirwe, Sgt Tumukunde and Constable Ronnie Byenkya in detention over the same case.
According to Police sources, the suspects were picked up on Saturday by a combined team of operatives from Flying squad, CriminInvestigationsons Directorate, and Special Operations Unit.
“We spent the last five days searching for them but now we have them in custody, they could not hide from us,” the source said.
The suspects who reportedly work under Special Operations Unit are said to be in Nalufenya. Special Operations Unit was formed in 2014, at the peak of the operation against Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebel group in eastern Uganda that was killing Muslim clerics and reportedly recruiting young men into their ranks.
The notorious SOU is supervised by Herbet Muhangi, the Commandant of the Police Flying Squad Division.
How Police tortured Byamukama
Mr Asan Kasingye, the police spokesperson said Mr Byamukama was arrested on April 5 by police from the Ministry of Lands office along Parliament Avenue. Mr Kasingye said after the arrest, two police officers and the suspect got involved in the scuffle on the way to notorious Nalufenya in Jinja District.
Opposition leaders and sections of the public have christened Nalufenya as “a torture chamber”.
The scuffle is said to have arose after Mr Byamukama realised he was not being taken to Naguru Police headquarters as earlier informed at the time of his arrest.
“The suspect sustained superficial injuries in the process which were aggravated by his medical conditions which we cannot divulge,” Mr Kasingye said.
Kaweesi was killed on March 17 alongside his driver Godfrey Wambewo and bodyguard Kenneth Erau at Kulambiro about 200 metres away from his home.
After the trio’s murder, security agencies including, Flying Squad Unit, Crime Intelligence, CID and Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence launched the hunt for the killers.
Police arrested Hassan Tumusiime and Abubaker Ntende who reportedly revealed that Byamukama, who turned out to be Kamwenge Town Council mayor, was one of the masterminds of the trio’s killing.
However, Mr Byamukama was not among the 13 wounded suspects arraigned before court on April 21. It turned out that Mr Byamukama had been whisked to Nakasero Hospital by his tormentors upon realising his condition was fast deteriorating.
Without explaining why authorities at Nalufenya accepted to receive a wounded suspect, Mr Kasingye noted in his statement issued to media on Friday that; “Police has given Mr Byamukama the best medical care possible at Nakasero Hospital in Kampala. He has been discharged and will be getting periodic reviews at the same facility.”
Mr Byamukama’s distressing state was exposed after his council members visited him at the hospital and witnessed the magnitude of torture that had been inflicted on him at Nalufenya high profile detention facility. Sources also indicated that IGP had ordered an investigation into allegations of torture at Nalufenya facility.
A police source told Sunday Monitor that two other Flying Squared Unite (FSU) spies were also arrested but were not mentioned by police authorities since they are civilians. They were arrested over unrelated crimes.
Police authorities at Naguru police headquarters arrested Corporal Karim Bamugireku for selling police ammunitions at Shs500,000.
Police sources intimated that Cpl Bamugireku contacted a resident of Naguru Hill and notified him how he had bullets and that he could sell to him at a cheaper price.
A source said the resident alerted the police that asked him to proceed with the transaction and Cpl Bamugireku was intercepted with exhibits of Shs50,000 notes which had been already photocopied by the police.
Mr Moses Bango, who is in charge of Anti-Narcotics Unit at Kabalye Police Station was arrested on Thursday for allegedly stealing narcotic exhibits valued at Shs10 million. According to police sources, Mr Bango had hidden the drugs in his packets and lock up.
