Finishing off Kayihura

Kandiho’s rise

When Kayihura was first appointed IGP in 2005, Kandiho was a lowly officer posted to Kigali, Rwanda.

He was reportedly deployed at the Uganda-Rwanda border when he developed bad blood with Rwandan security operatives because of his uncompromising trait.

But it was when he was an attaché at Entebbe Airport in June 2012 that Kandiho is said to have clashed directly with Kayihura. At the time, one Portia Mbabazi; the daughter of then exiled former Rwandan spymaster Col. Patrick Karegeya caused a diplomatic standoff between Kigali and Kampala when her Rwandan passport was withdrawn by the authorities. In such case, an individual would be deported to the passport issuing country to resolve the issue. Instead, Kandiho reportedly hurriedly processed a passport for her against Kayihura’s wish. The passport was later hurriedly withdrawn but Kandiho’s anti-Rwanda credentials had become indelible.

Soon Kandiho appears to have got into problems with his then boss, Brig. Charles Bakahumura who recalled him CMI headquarters in Kampala and made him head of the once-notorious Joint Anti-Terrorism Task Force (JATT).

But even here, Bakahumura appears to have found even more problems with Kandiho. Clashes between the two men reportedly often got out of hand. Instead of support, Bakahumura started receiving calls from senior army officers encouraging him to “work better with Kandiho”.

One of these calls came from the current Commander of Defence Forces (CDF), Gen. David Muhoozi, who at the time was the Commander Land Forces (CLF).

Before Bakahumura knew it, Kandiho was moved to military police. When Brig. Kayanja Muhanga, who was heading it, was shuffled and moved to head the 4th Division, Kandiho became the Acting Commander Military Police.

Brig. Bakahumura’s shock must have come when Museveni reshuffled heads of security agencies again in January 2017, and replaced him with Kandiho, who was a colonel. Museveni later in 2017 promoted him to brigadier.

However, all along, Kandiho had been close to President Museveni. He is a younger brother to Adonia Ayebare, Uganda’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, and they are related to Museveni.

His former boss, Bakahumura on the other hand, was seen as an intellectual, who was good at handling the big picture—regional security aspects in the global context.

Aware of his strengths, President Museveni always travelled with Bakahumura whenever he would be meeting global leaders with an interest in regional security.

For instance, sources say when President Museveni met U.S. President Barack Obama in Ethiopia to talk regional security in 2015, Museveni travelled with Bakahumura.

Around 2017, however, several factors appear to have conspired to dent Bakahumura’s position and propel Kandiho forward.

Internationally, in late 2016, Donald Trump had won the election to succeed Barack Obama as U.S. Trump immediately showed less interest in Great Lakes regional security issues, and Bakahumura’s currency lost value.

At the same time, fixing the volatile security situation in the country, which required the Kandiho kind of officer, became more urgent. Since mid-2015, the country had been rocked by unsolved murders of several female university students in Kampala.

At a 2013 High Command meeting, Museveni expressed concerns that military intelligence had not exposed “the subversive activities of Tinyefuza”.

“Military intelligence has some gaps,” Museveni said.

Insiders say in Museveni’s calculation, the decline in CMI effectiveness might have been one of the reasons that rendered Bakahumura less relevant.

Interestingly, around the same time, tensions with Rwanda appeared to be getting out of hand.

Some suspect that what seems to have endeared Kandiho to Museveni is his ability to gather serious intelligence on intelligence operatives of other countries in the region based in Uganda. Those who have worked closely with him say he is good at working on the nuts and bolts of an issue.

He reportedly dug up and started delivering topnotch intelligence on Rwanda.

Indeed when after he was appointed and Kaweesi was killed in March 2017, Kandiho brought CMI to the centre of investigations. Police protested and inter-agency fights broke out. Suspects in the case in police custody claimed they were being tortured to implicate Tumukunde and those in the custody of ISO and CMI, claimed they were being tortured to implicate Kayihura.

Kandiho did the same when the killings of women in the Entebbe-Katabi area starting mid-2017 and the so-called kijambiya killings in Masaka.

Hardly months on the job, Kandiho cracked down on the suspects of some 23 women who had been murdered in the areas of Entebbe and Wakiso.

Recently, Kandiho’s CMI is also said to have gathered intelligence, led the raid on Usafi mosque and captured the suspects in the murder of 28-year old Suzan Magara, daughter of a prominent businessman close to Museveni, before handing them to police.

If by this time there was still confusion about who was running the security show and taking down Kayihura, that doubt was all erased when in October CMI started picking one by one, top cops that had been close allies of Kayihura.

In one swoop, CMI arrested; Senior Superintendent of Police Nixon Agasirwe, the former commander Special Operations Unit, Senior Commissioner of Police Joel Aguma, the commandant of the police Professional Standards Unit, Assistant Superintendent of Police Magada, crime intelligence; Benon Atwebembeire, Sgt Abel Tumukunde, the Kampala Metropolitan Police flying squad commander, Faisal Katende, flying squad and Amon Kwarisima.

These were taken to the Court Martial and charged with unlawful possession of firearms and grenades ordinarily a monopoly of the Defence Forces.

They are also accused of handing to the Rwanda government two prominent persons; one Lt. Joel Mutabazi; a former presidential guard for Rwanda President Paul Kagame who had sought refuge in Uganda, and Jackson Kalemera.  The two were reportedly handed to Rwanda without their consent.

In another swoop, Kandiho’s CMI went for Abdullah Kitata, the self-appointed patron of Boda Boda 2010. While Kitata was arrested as part of the investigations into the murder of the Case Clinic accountant, Francis Ekalungar, his outfit—Boda Boda 2010 would later be linked to the issues with Rwanda.

In yet another swoop, CMI rounded up; Richard Ndaboine, the former head of cyber intelligence, Col. Ndahura Atwooki, the former head crime intelligence, and Herbert Muhangi, the former head of Flying Squad, among others.

By this time, it was clear that it was only a matter of time until Kandiho came for Kayihura himself and replaced him as the new enforcer in Museveni’s security apparatus. By bringing down Kayihura, Kandiho also appears to have claimed CMI’s spot back.