Lt. Gen. Gutti: Unveiling the man who will try Gen Kayihura
Lt.Gen. Andrew Gutti’s name will in the next few days be in the limelight as the person before whom, Gen.Kale Kayihura the former Inspector General of Police will appear to answer a number of charges.
On Tuesday, the army spokesperson Brig. Richard Karemire announced that the UPDF high command had sat and reappointed Gutti and his team to the General Court Martial that sits in Makindye.
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Other members of Lt.Gen. Gutti’s team include Lt. Col. Gideon Katinda(Judge Advocate), Maj. Sarah Navuga, Capt. Alex Arthur Muhwezi, Capt. Wilfred Nyero, Capt. Annet Nekesa, Sgt Muzoora Benson, Maj. Emmanuel Rubyakana and Maj. Fredrick Tamale Lwanga.
Others are Maj. James Ali, Maj. Oliver Mutegeki, Capt. James Chemondos, Lt. Allen Nalubega, WO 1- Omara Jimmy, Lt. Col. Benson Timu, John B. Mulindwa and Capt Angela Laker.
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According to the UPDF Act 2005, the General Court Martial consists of a chairman who shall not be below the rank of a Lieutenant Colonel, senior officers, junior officers, a political commissar and a non -commissioned officer and these members are appointed by the High Command for a period of one year.
The current team’s term had expired last week before being renewed on Tuesday.
The team led by Gutti has handled a number of big cases including that of senior police officers; Senior Commissioner of Police Joel Aguma, and Senior Superintendent of Police Nickson Agasirwe accused of kidnapping and extraditing Lt.Joel Mutabazi, a former bodyguard to Rwanda president Paul Kagame.
They have handled the case of unlawful possession of military hardware by Boda boda 2010 patron Abdallah Kitatta and his men.
Kayihura
The former police chief was arrested last week by the army before being airlifted and later detained at the Makindye military prison in Kampala.
A number of police officers believed to be cronies to Kayihura including; the former cyber-crime head Richard Ndaboine, former crime intelligence director Col Ndahura Atwooki, 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, have since been arrested as well and are set to be tried in the same court.
The fact that all of these were arrested by the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence, they are expected to be arraigned before the military court in Makindye chaired by Lt.Gen.Gutti to answer charges against them.
According to sources, the arrested officers are expected to answer charges related to espionage, organised crime and kidnap.
The public will be eagerly awaiting to see how the army court handles these officers in relation to the charges against them.
No nonsense man
Despite being a calm and jolly man, Lt.Gen. Gutti is a man who does not tolerate nonsense during cases while chairing the court.
In one incident early this year, the General Court Martial chairman turned down a request by the boda boda 2010 patron Kitatta to have him transferred to Luzira prison saying he could not do it for his own security.
““He is there for his own safety. He knows what he has done to this world,”Guti told Kitatta.
The court is any time expected to charge the above mentioned officers because all of them are subject military law according to the UPDF Act 2005.
Section 119 of the UPDF Act provides that persons subject to the military law include every person found in unlawful possession of arms, ammunition or equipment ordinarily being the monopoly of defence forces or other classified stores.
Gen Gutti who joined the army in 1986 has served in the various positions in the last 30 years.
He served as commander of the African Union Mission (AMISOM) in Somalia, taking over from Major General Fred Mugisha during whose tenure, AMISOM helped to uproot the Al-Shabaab militia from fixed positions in Mogadishu.
Prior to the appointment, he was the commandant of the Uganda Senior Command and Staff College at Kimaka, Jinja. He also served as the 3rd division commander and Chief of Operation and Training in the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces-UPDF
