Col.Ndahura Atwooki charged by army court

The army has on Friday afternoon charged former police Crime Intelligence Commander, Col.Atwooki Ndahura, the Nile Post has learnt

Col. Ndahura who was  early this year recalled back into the army was arrested two weeks ago in an army swoop that cracked the whip on a number of cronies to former Inspector General of Police, Gen. Kale Kayihura.

However, according to sources, he was arraigned before the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence  court in Mbuya chaired  by Col Tom Kabuye and charges read to him.

Army spokesperson,Brig. Richard Karemire confirmed the development when contacted by this website.

“I can now confirm that Col. Ndahura has appeared before the Unit Disciplinary Committee (UDC) and charged with Interfering with the process of law, contrary to Section 166 of the UPDF Act 2005.He has been remanded to Makindye  until 13 July 2018,”Brig.Karemire said.

This comes only a few days after the High Court civil division in Kampala issued a harbeus corpus ordering the army to produce him in court on July 2.

Ndahura’s wife, Sarah Ndahura dragged the army and the Attorney General to court seeking to have him produced to court .

In her suit, the wife said since the arrest on June 11 from Peace Corner Hotel in Masindi town by the army, family members have been denied access to Col.Atwooki Ndahura.

“He was on June 12 transferred to Makindye military barracks but since then, he has never been produced to court or charged in any court of competent jurisdiction,” the wife says in her affidavit.

“Lawyers, family and personal doctor have been denied access to him which is a violation of his rights.”

Col. Ndahura’s wife says they have suffered after being denied their right to personal enjoyment together with their family member on top of psychological torture onto them.

In her affidavit, Sarah Ndahura says her husband’s right to personal liberty has been denied since his arrest and subsequent detention without being arraigned in court.

In his ruling, Justice Musa Ssekaana of the High Court Civil Division agreed with the reasons cited by Col. Atwooki’s wife saying there is no justification for the continued detention without trial.

“This is a proper case and court accordingly issues a harbeus corpus to be returned on July 2,”Ssekaana ruled on Tuesday morning.

The Unit Disciplinary Committee (UDC) is the first stage after which a suspect is then committed to the  General Court Martial in Makindye for trial.

Boda boda 2010 patron Abdalla Kitatta and members of his group were also first arraigned before the court before being committed to the General Court Martial where they are battling charges related to unlawful possession of military stores.

Col.Ndahura

The army in March recalled Col. Atwooki who had earlier served as a commander in the Presidential Protection Unit (PPU) turned Special Forces Command (SFC) from police where he had been serving as the Director in charge of Crime Intelligence.

He had in 2015  been  appointed the head the Crime Intelligence  which had been just formed in the wave of a spate of violent crimes in the country which had been attributed to lack of intelligence by the police.

He was later on June 11 arrested by the army in Masindi before being detained at Makindye.

Col.Ndahura was arrested together with Gen,Kayihura and a number of former police commanders including the former cyber-crime head Richard Ndaboine, the former Flying Squad commander Herbert Muhangi, former Professional Standards Unit Commander Good Mwesigwa and Lt Col Peter Musherure, the former deputy police director of crime intelligence among others.