COURT | KIYEMBA | TERRORISM 

KAMPALA - Buganda Road Chief Magistrates' Court has adjourned the hearing of the case in which a former Guantanamo Bay detainee was charged over links with Allied Democratic Forces, a terrorist organisation. 

Monday afternoon when the case came up for hearing, the magistrate adjourned the case to June 20, 2022 Following a letter filed in court by lawyers representing Jamal Kiyemba (accused person) seeking another hearing date. 

“This matter was fixed for hearing on June 6, 2022, at 9:00 am, unfortunately, counsel Geoffrey Turyamusiima who is in the personal conduct of this matter is appearing in constitutional Court, in the premises we pray for another date,” reads part of the letter. 

Last month, Kiyemba also known as, Abdullah Tonny appeared before Buganda Road Chief Magistrate Douglas Singiza on a video conferencing in Luzira Prison and denied the charges. 

He is charged with the offence of belonging to a terrorist Organisation contrary to Sections 11(1) (a) and (b) of the Anti-Terrorism Act 2002. 

Chief State prosecutor Joan Keko, informed the court that investigations into the matter are complete.

Prosecution says Kiyemba 43, and others still large, between 2021 and January 2022 in the Republic of Congo and the Republic of Uganda belonged or professed to belong to Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a Terrorist Organisation. 

Who is Kiyemba?

Born on February 22, 1979, to the late Simon Peter Musisi and Teresa Namuddu of Masaka. He comes from a strong Roman Catholic family. 

When Ugandan-born Anthony Kiyemba converted to Islam at the age of 20 and changed his name to Jamal Abdullah, he could not have imagined that he would one day end up in America's most notorious prison: Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

Kiyemba was arrested in Pakistan in 2002 on suspicion of being an Al-Qaeda terrorist and sent back to Uganda in 2006.

He went to St. Savio Primary School in Kisubi and later joined the prestigious St. Mary's College Kisubi. 

However, his life changed when his parents divorced. His mother migrated to the UK and his father died in a car accident in 1989. His maternal aunt found it increasingly difficult to look after him. 

n 1998, Kiyemba joined his mother, and siblings 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 Pharmaceutical and Cosmetic Sciences. 

Becoming a Muslim

It was during that time that Kiyemba was introduced to the teachings of Islam. 

"I met a friend who made me listen to a cassette with an Islamic message. It was recorded by a new convert, an Afro-American, called Khalid Yassin. 

It was April 1999," he recalls. "I took the vows of Islam and suddenly felt like a newborn baby," he says.

Kiiyemba's mother did not agree with his new religion. Nor did his relatives back in Uganda, whom he visited in January 2000.