Uganda People’s Defense Forces-UPDF has explained its involvement in the ongoing operations in Kampala. Last week, military police picked up 28 suspects, majority of them members of Boda Boda 2010, for their alleged involvement in the kidnap and murder of Francis Ekalugar, the former accountant of Case Clinic.
Ekalugar was kidnapped on Tuesday January 02, 2018 on his way to deposit Shillings 15 million to the bank. His body was burned and dumped in Kajjansi, a Kampala city suburb on January 3rd, 2018 where it was recovered from. Captain Deo Akiiki, the Deputy UPDF Spokesperson, says they conducted a joint operation on Friday following reliable leads leading to the arrest of Huzairu Kiwalabye, one of the key suspects.
He explains that after interrogating Kiwalabye, the investigators found the need to make further arrests and picked up 28 suspects including Abdullah Kitata, the head of Boda Boda 2010 and a brother to Kiwalabye. They also picked up Mawa Muzamiru a – driver to Dr. SSebale Kato, the proprietor Case Clinic, Kikandi Muhindo and David Bizimani, Congolese nationals at whose residence Ekalugar’s vehicle was found on Sunday.
The involvement of the army in the operations, which ideally should have been conduct by Uganda Police Force raised eyebrows. However, Lt. Col. Deo Akiiki, the Deputy UPDF Spokesperson, says the operations were conducted by the Joint Anti-Terrorism Task force (JATT).
“You may wonder why the army came in to arrest suspects. When a person is killed, we don’t know what the intention of the murder is. It could be terrorism or something else. That is why we had to work together,” said Akiiki during a joint press conference at the government owned media center this morning.
“The police could not tell, are these criminals we know that we have been running about with? Therefore, we had to come together to bring these criminals to book.”
