Despite a few ‘regrettable’ incidents of indiscipline, army still on right track - Gen Muhoozi

The Chief of Defence Forces, Gen.David Muhoozi has said despite a few incidents of indiscipline by some of their officers, the UPDF is still on the right track.

In the past few weeks, the army’s intelligence arm, the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI) has been in the news for bad deeds especially in regards to brutal arrest of suspects that included beating some of them with gun butts like it was in the case of Kampala businessman Yusuf Kawooya who was captured in a video that went viral.

In an interview with the Nile Post at the Ministry of Defence headquarters in Mbuya on Tuesday, Gen.Muhoozi admitted mistakes done by their officers but noted these were on individual basis and don’t reflect the army values.

“Though there are some mistakes, it is not our standard operating procedure. What happened was a one off and you can’t judge us by a few incidents,”Gen.Muhoozi told the Nile Post on Wednesday afternoon.

“We condemn in the strongest terms what happened but  I cannot guarantee that it won’t happen again because we are also humans like others liable to make mistakes.”

The latest incident that put the UPDF in bad light was the brutal arrest of Yusuf Kawooya by security operatives in plain clothed but armed with rifles.

In an October 18 video circulated on social media, five security operatives armed with guns were seen beating Kawooya along Colville Street near Christ the King church in Kampala.

“Twagala mmotoka( we want the vehicle),” the four officers said as they hit him with gun butts repeatedly all over his body including the kidney area.

The video led to an outpouring of criticism against security agencies and their handling of suspects.

The men were later arraigned before the Mbuya-based UPDF Unit Disciplinary Court, chaired by Col. Tom Kabuye and they pleaded guilty to unprofessional conduct in arresting Kawooya.

Speaking to journalists later, Democratic Party president Nobert Mao said the people arraigned in the army court were not genuine suspects.

“After reviewing both videos thoroughly, our expert is concerned about the man in checked shirt whom they claimed was the same man in the video. The physic of these two men are not matching. We have seen anomalies,” Mao told journalists.

The Chief of Defence Forces said the army does not play to the public gallery but does what is right.

He explained that they cannot be derailed by what is said of the army but noted that they would continue acting professionally in a bid to serve the country diligently.

“We cannot play to the public gallery but the idea is that we acknowledge being accountable for our actions. We do things because we are convinced they are right. We have a continuous struggle for education and supervision of our officers and those who cross the line are always punished,”Gen.Muhoozi said.

On the guidelines provided by President Museveni on arresting suspects, the CDF said there are always standard operative procedures they follow but noted that Museveni’s guidelines were a remainder of what to be done.

“The guidance by our Commander in Chief must always be taken serious and implemented. We shall definitely do that.”

He also revealed that he had ordered the UPDF medical services to get in touch with Kampala hospital where Yusuf Kawooya was admitted after release on bond to see what they can offer in regards the medical bills.