Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni has said ADF rebels would be no more, but they are being ‘preserved’ by United Nations (UN) and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
He made the remarks on Wednesday while delivering the State of the Nation Address for 2018 at the Uganda International Conference Centre, Serena, Kampala.
He noted that Uganda had a lot of challenges even after the NRM took power.
“Eventually, by 2007, the UPDF totally defeated Kony, ADF, the other rebel groups and disarmed the Karimojong. Therefore, rural-based terrorism and banditry was totally defeated and we built military and intelligence capacity to ensure that Uganda will never be threatened by terrorists operating from the rural areas,” he said.
“The terrorists of ADF are still in Congo, preserved there by the UN and the Congo government. If, however, they were to re-enter Uganda, they would be promptly and decisively defeated,” he added.
He revealed that some of the terrorists of ADF as well as other criminal elements, seeing that they could not survive in the rural areas, infiltrated into the towns where we had not fully focused in terms of developing intelligence capacity.
“As a consequence, we had 7 Sheiks assassinated as well as Major Kiggundu, Joan Kagezi, AIGP Kaweesi and Susan Magara, of recent. These killings seem to have been linked with ADF,” he said, adding that other killings like the women killed in the Entebbe – Wakiso areas, as well as the killings in the Masaka area on New Year’s Eve, were by local criminals using pangas.
With this new challenge, he said, we put in place mechanism to build the intelligence gathering capacity in the towns and on the highways. We are about to round-off the building of that capacity.
“Urban terrorism and crime will be defeated just as we defeated the rural terrorists. In the meantime, most of the killers of the women in the Entebbe – Wakiso areas as well as the killings in the Masaka area, have been arrested,” he said.
One of the killers, Kiddawalime, was killed by the wanaichi and our Police Force.
“ In particular, I want to commend Cadet ASP Twinomugisha Steven, a Police Officer, that wrestled down the criminal and disabled him. With immediate effect, I promote him to the next rank. I also salute our grand-daughter, Nakyambadde, who, using the mobile telephone, summoned for help when the obnoxious Kiddawalime was about to start robbing her and was about to rape her,” he said.
On the kidnappers and killers of Susan Magara, Museveni said 2 were killed at Usaafi Mosque as they were trying to fight the Police and 8 were arrested.
“Regarding the killings of Joan Kagezi, Moslem Sheikhs, AIGP Kaweesi and Major Kiggundu, 90 persons have been arrested and are now facing trial and those not yet arrested are still being hunted,” he said, adding: “The ADF criminals in Congo will answer for the killings of our people even when they are hiding in Congo. Their only safety is for them to voluntarily surrender and seek for amnesty. I salute our brothers, the Tanzanians, for arresting and handing over to us Jamil Mukulu. He is now facing the Courts of Law.”
