Kidnapping Rwandan refugees: State sets free 7 police officers
Written by URN
Seven
senior police officers who were initially charged with failure to
protect war materials, aiding and abetting the kidnap and repatriation
of Rwandan refugees have been set free.
The seven officers include Nixon
Agasirwe, the former head of operations and former commandant at the
special investigations unit (SIU), Col Ndahura Atwooki, the former
director of crime intelligence and Herbert Muhangi, the former head of
the flying squad.
Others are Richard Ndaboine, the former
head of the cybercrime unit, Patrick Muramira, an operative in the
flying squad, Jonas Ayebaza, a former personal assistant to former
Inspector General of Police Gen Edward Kale Kayihura and Muyomba
Kitagenda, an operative with the flying squad.
The prosecution
had stated that on October 25, 2013, while at Kamengo in Mpigi district,
the seven police officers conspired with their former boss Kayihura to
kidnap three Rwandan refugees namely; Joel Mutabazi, Jackson Kalemera
and Innocent Kaliisa and conveyed them to their country against their
will.
The entire group had also been charged with unlawfully
allowing the issuance of guns to unauthorized groups of people including
the then Boda-Boda 2010 patron Abdallah Kitatta, and his bodyguard
detective constable Sowali Ngobi. The duo was later on found guilty and
sentenced to a jail term they have since finished serving.
The
policemen were between 2017 and 2018 jailed before securing their
temporary freedom on bail. The group which was initially charged with
Kayihura was on Tuesday afternoon released by the General Court Martial
in Makindye presided over by Brig Gen Freeman Robert Mugabe.
The
prosecution led by Lt Col Raphael Mugisha tendered a letter dated March
5, 2024, to the court indicating that the directorate of the
prosecutions in the UPDF had withdrawn the charges against the police
officers. He didn't specify the reasons for this decision.
Consequently,
the Court Martial chairperson Mugabe set the accused persons free.
Charges against Kayihura were also dropped by the state last year.
The prosecution had stated that on October 25, 2013, while at Kamengo in Mpigi district, the seven police officers conspired with their former boss Kayihura to kidnap three Rwandan refugees namely; Joel Mutabazi, Jackson Kalemera and Innocent Kaliisa and conveyed them to their country against their will.
The entire group had also been charged with unlawfully allowing the issuance of guns to unauthorized groups of people including the then Boda-Boda 2010 patron Abdallah Kitatta, and his bodyguard detective constable Sowali Ngobi. The duo was later on found guilty and sentenced to a jail term they have since finished serving.
The policemen were between 2017 and 2018 jailed before securing their temporary freedom on bail. The group which was initially charged with Kayihura was on Tuesday afternoon released by the General Court Martial in Makindye presided over by Brig Gen Freeman Robert Mugabe.
The prosecution led by Lt Col Raphael Mugisha tendered a letter dated March 5, 2024, to the court indicating that the directorate of the prosecutions in the UPDF had withdrawn the charges against the police officers. He didn't specify the reasons for this decision.
Consequently, the Court Martial chairperson Mugabe set the accused persons free. Charges against Kayihura were also dropped by the state last year.