Has UPDF, police deliberately refused to arrest their own over November killings?

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Police’s Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) monitoring centres in Kampala captured 11 army and police officers directly shooting at non-violent civilians during last year’s infamous November 18, riots.

At least 54 people were killed during the unrest which started on November 18, running through November 19, moments after the arrest of the then-presidential candidate Robert Ssentamu Kyagulanyi.

A police source said that following a directive by President Yoweri Museveni and the Inspector General of Police, Martin Okoth Ochola, they retrieved more than 400 protest scenes in the Kampala metropolitan area. Out of this, they cut out 21 video clips showing eight soldiers and three police officers shooting bystanders.

“We gave the videos to the police and army team that had been set up to investigate the incidents. In the 21 video clips we zeroed on, eight soldiers and three policemen were killing civilians on building, verandas and balconies,” a police source said.

Among the scenes where civilians were captured being shot on verandas and through windows of their shops include a stretch between Kampala Watoto Church and Mapeera building junction. In that stretch alone, six people were shot dead. Other scenes where people were captured being killed was Nasser road, Ndeeba, Usafi market junction and Kibuye. All these killings according to police sources were clearly captured by spy cameras on the roads, cameras on individual buildings and mobile phones.

“We also analyzed clips captured by civilians using mobile phones and we successfully identified the non-uniformed men shooting at civilians. We identified those attached to Flying Squad, ISO, Crime Intelligence and CMI. But no action has been taken against any of these people,” a police source said.

In response to URN’s question on why no security officer has been arrested despite the CCTV evidence, police spokesperson Fred Enanga said the forensic team is still analyzing the documented riot scenes.

“But the best evidence as far as stray is concerned is when you probably find a bullet head that is dislodged in the body of the victim. It can easily help to trace back the gun which could have shot the person. It becomes a very sophisticated investigation. That is still a technical area where our directorate of forensic services has not come up with a full report,” Enanga said.

URN has learnt that the team investigating the November riots was spearheaded by the director of Criminal Investigations AIGP Grace Akullo alongside the Deputy Inspector General of Police (late) Lt Gen Paul Lokech. A report was submitted by the team to President Yoweri Museveni that out of 54 deaths, 22 were killed by stray bullets while the rest were allegedly violent rioters.

*****

URN