Details emerge about Kagezi murder suspect

 By Alfred Wandera
 
Heavily armed Counter-Terrorism Unit operatives on Tuesday arrested four men including a former Guantanamo Bay detainee over alleged links to terrorist groups.
 
Jamal Abdullah Kiyemba, who was captured in Pakistan in 2002 on suspicion of being an Al-Qaeda terrorist, was arrested at his home in Zzana, along Kampala - Entebbe Road, with three other men.
 
Others were identified as Ismael Ssendawula, Siraje Serugo and Bashir Nyangisu.
 
Jamal's wife, Sulaina Sulait, told New Vision at their Zzana home shortly after the suspects were whisked away in three police vehicles, that the police donning anti-terrorism uniforms and others in civilian attire stormed the home early morning and arrested the quartet before conducting a house search for about five hours.
 
"The police vehicles parked on the road side and the police men came out running after my husband and his friends. They were brandishing guns and they handcuffed them and took them in the house. They searched the house from 8:00am to about 1:00pm. They took all our mobile phones," said Sulait.
 
Sulait added that Nyangisu, Ismael and Siraje are their tenants occupying houses adjacent to their main house in the compound.
 
After the long house search, Police whisked the suspects away. There were reports the suspects were being detained separately at Jinja Road Police Station and Kireka Special Investigations Unit.
Police Spokesperson, Fred Enanga said he was under instruction not to comment on the Zzana arrests. He said the Inspector General of Police, Gen. Kale Kayihura was directly in in charge of the operation.
 
Efforts to get comment from Kayihura were fruitless.
 
Kiyemba's children told New Vision that their mother, who is heavily pregnant, was rushed to hospital by police after the arrest of her husband.
 
"We cried when we saw them taking mummy to their (police) vehicle but they calmed us down saying they were taking her to hospital and she would be back soon. They assured us that there was nothing wrong with our father and mummy," said the eldest daughter, aged 13.
 
Kiyemba’s children also revealed that the security operatives who arrested their father were in company of some “Bazungu” (Whites).
 
Kiyemba’s wife later returned home and informed New Vision that she wasn’t feeling well. Sulait who was in company of another woman said she had just been to a hospital.
 
In Zana, Kiyemba is commonly referred to as Swahab, an Arabic word that traditionally refers to the people who were close associates of Prophet Mohammed, although in the Ugandan context, it means “friend”.
 
Sources said Nyangisu is a bodaboda cyclist closely associated with Kiyemba.
 
 Who is Kiyemba?
Kiyemba was freed in 2006 by Uganda authorities after he was arrested in Pakistan in 2002 for allegedly belonging to the Al-Qaeda terrorist and jailed in Pakistan, Afghanistan before he was transferred to the American maximum security detention facility at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.
 
Born into a Catholic family, Kiyemba reportedly converted to Islam while in UK where he was staying with his mother. He later moved to Pakistan to join the Taliban war against the US forces in Afghanistan.
 
When he was freed from the Guantanamo Bay, Britain denied him entry into London. He was subsequently deported to Uganda in 2006 where, for two months, was confined to a 'safe house'.
 
In March 2003, he was arrested by Pakistani security along with hundreds of foreigners, especially Arabs.
 
Kiyemba went to St. Savio Primary School in Kisubi and the prestigious St. Mary's College, Kisubi.
 
Kiyemba’s life changed dramatically when his parents divorced. His mother migrated to the UK and his father died in a car accident in 1989 and his maternal aunt found it increasingly difficult to look after him.
 
In 1998, Kiyemba joined his mother in London, where he continued his education at Pope Paul II Secondary School in Wimbledon. Later, he joined De Montfort University in Leicester to study pharmacy. He quit the university and headed to Afghanistan through Pakistan.
 
Kiyemba and Nyangisu were in 2013 implicated in the disappearance of a number of people from Zzana, including children and were charged with trafficking in people and terrorism and remanded to Luzira Prison. They were later released on bail.