Police place shs20m bounty on planner of  Gen Katumba attack

Police have announced a shs 20 million reward for anyone with useful information that will lead to the arrest of  Sheikh Abudin Hubaida Taheel Bukenya, one of the key  suspects in the assassination attempt on  Works Minister, Gen. Edward Katumba Wamala on June,1,2021.

The deputy Inspector General of Police, Maj Gen Paul Lokech on Tuesday announced the arrest of Huzaifa Wampa, alias Kanaabe the second suspected shooter in the June,1 attack but noted that efforts are now turned onto the group leader.

“Our focus now shifts to tracking down the overall coordinator of the domestic terror cells, a one Sheikh Abudin Hubaida Taheel Bukenya. He has been actively recruiting assailants and reactivating the terror cells.  We have widely shared his photos and put out a reward of shs20 million for any one with credible information that can lead to his arrest,”Lokech said.

Bukenya is said to have been a former Allied Democratic Forces(ADF) combatant who was given amnesty by government but has since violated the same.

It is also said he had a few years ago embarked on the task of reactivating the ADF cell in Kampala that security say is responsible for the recent spate of shootings involving prominent persons in the past five or so years.

According to Gen Lokech, this terror cell headed by Bukenya was responsible for the murder of Maj Muhammad Kiggundu together with his bodyguard in November, 2016 and AIGP Andrew Felix Kaweesi together with his bodyguard and driver in March 2017, all killed in a similar fashion by gunmen moving on motorcycles.

The deputy police chief said during interrogation, Wampa confessed to have participated in all those shootings and others where a total of 14 people were killed including the 2017 attack on Denovo bread company staff who as they collected cash from bread sale points in which two police officers and the driver were killed and shs37 million cash was stolen.

The group also allegedly participated in the attack on Cheap hardware in Nansana in 2019 killing two people and shs300 million was robbed among other robberies.

Security says that the arrest of Bukenya, believed to be the planner of all these attackers will be crucial in dismantling the ADF cell that they say had been reactivated in Kampala.

“Our counter-terror operations aimed at dismantling the terror cells continue.  We do fully support the resolute enforcement actions and commitment of the task team to their duties because countering threats of domestic terror and extremism, is much harder than what most people think.   However, our teams have showed that they have superior capacity,”Lokech said.