Senior Army officers Probe torture of Mityana LC 5 Chairperson

Mityana – Chief of Defense Forces (CDF) of Uganda Peoples Defense Forces (UPDF) has dispatched a delegation of senior military officers to investigate an alleged manhandled Mityana District Chairperson, Mr Joseph Luzige by officers on night patrol.

The Military Spokesperson, Brig. Gen. Richard Karemire discloses in a press statement that the team has commenced an investigation of the matter.

“Investigations have commenced, meanwhile, the Chief of Defence Forces has sent a team of senior leaders that include; Maj Gen Sam Kavuma, the Deputy Commander Land Force (D/CLF), Maj Gen Sam Kawaga, 1st Division Commander and Maj Gen Henry Masiko the Chief of Political Commissar (CPC) to Mityana to make an on-spot assessment and confer with both the district leaders and the district security committee” the army spokesperson states.

He noted that the army regrets and seeks to establish facts of the circumstances of July 7, 2020, involving L/Cpl Anguria Simon Peter, Pte Odeke Simon, Pte Musundi Caroline and Pte Okello Isaac, a patrol squad on routine duty in Mityana Municipality.

The army spokesperson discloses that the officers involved have been arrested to be prosecuted in the military court:

“This incident no doubt has attracted a lot of attention from the members of the public and the leaders in Mityana district and beyond. The UPDF regrets this gross act of indiscipline that is not characteristic of the UPDF as a people’s army,” the Amy mouthpiece states.

According to Brig. Gen. Karemire, the UPDF does condone indiscipline as seen in imprisonment several officers including a recent life sentence awarded to an officer in Masaka district.

“We wish to restate that discipline remains a core value and bedrock on which the UPDF was founded. Anyone who deviates from this will always be punished according to the established laws. There are examples to prove this in the recent past like a soldier in Kasese was sentenced to 35 years imprisonment and an LDU personnel was yesterday sentenced to life imprisonment all because of unprofessional conduct. We therefore strongly condemn this act meted out against one of our senior civilian leaders” he stresses.

The UPDF wishes to reiterate its full commitment and loyalty to the people of Uganda and will always remain subordinate to the civilian authority as provided for under Article 208 of the Constitution, Brig. Gen. Karemire says.

He advises the public to continue having trust in the army as it reviews deployment strategy during COVID-19 period.

“There is no need to lose heart over these incidents. A comprehensive review of these deployments to enforce anti-COVID 19 measures is soon to take place and we expect better results” the army emphasises.