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KAMPALA - There is no person in jail for wearing a beret or Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) uniform, the army has disclosed.

The Deputy Spokesperson for Uganda's Ministry of Defense and Veterans Affairs, Deo Akiiki said those who were arrested for wearing berets were cautioned and set free.

“Those who were found wearing berets were cautioned and let free like it was done to Hon. Lillian Aber. Olivia Lutaaya has other cases to answer related to petrol bombs,” Akiiki said on X (formerly Twitter), on February 11, 2024.

Akiiki was responding to the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, Joel Ssenyonyi, who claimed that Aber, the Kitgum district woman representative, was let off the hook when found wearing a UPDF uniform while Lutaaya is in jail for over three years for wearing a red beret with a People Power badge.

“The one meant to be in jail is not, the one meant to be free is not,” Ssenyonyi stated.
UPDF has since revealed that a soldier had been arrested for giving Aber the uniform.

Lutaaya and her 31 co-accused are battling charges of unlawful possession of ammunition at the General Court Martial (GCM) based in Makindye, Kampala.

Recently, the GCM presided over by Brig Freeman Robert Mugabe, denied the accused bail after finding their sureties not substantial.