Conspirator links Muslim cleric to bomb suspect

Mar 22, 2015

SELF-confessed Kampala July 2010 twin bombings conspirator turned state witness Mahmoud Mugisha, has linked Muslim cleric Dr Ismael Kalule as an associate of fellow terror suspect Isa Luyima

By Andante Okanya

 

SELF-confessed Kampala July 2010 twin bombings conspirator turned state witness Mahmoud Mugisha, has linked Muslim cleric Dr Ismael Kalule as an associate of fellow terror suspect Isa Luyima.

 

Mugisha made the claims on Friday at the High Court in Kampala. He was testifying in the trial where Kalule and Isa Luyima are among the 13 accused people.

 

Mugisha was guided by assistant director of public prosecutions Joan Kagezi during examination in-chief. Kagezi was assisted by principal state attorney Lino Anguzu.

 

He stated that Isa Luyima was an acquaintance he met in Somalia in 2009, when they were part of the Al Shabaab terror outfit.

 

Mugisha said Kalule was a preacher at Aldina Mosque on Rashid Khamis Mosque, near Kisekka Market in downtown Kampala. Mugisha said the mosque was used as a contact placement arena.

 

"I and Isa agreed that the place would be convenient for us. We decided that it would be the place to leave our addresses in the event that we lost contact with each other," Mugisha said.

 

Adding: "I had known Kalule as a Muslim scholar and a doctor. I used to go there for lessons. That is how I got to interact with him."

 

A total of 76 people perished in the two incidents that occurred at Kyadondo Rugby Club and the Ethiopian Village Restaurant in Kampala. Many were injured.

 

Revelers were watching the World Cup Final between Spain and Holland, of the tournament played in South Africa.

 

The third bomb that had been planted at the Makindye House on the same day, was defused before it exploded.

 

Mugisha also asserted that a few months to the bombings, he was arrested and charged at Nakawa Court with being in possession of a fake passport, charges he denied.

 

He said Kalule sent two young men to stand surety for him, and that he was bailed out. However, asked by Kagezi to clarify about who posted the bail money, Mugisha said when he went to thank Kalule, he was told to show gratitude to Isa Luyima

 

This year on January 27, Mugisha was released from prison after serving a five-year jail sentence for the twin bombings.

 

On September 17, 2011, trial judge Alfonse Owiny-Dollo sentenced him on his own admission of guilt.

 

The other accused are Hussein Hassan Agade, Idris Magondu, Hassan Haruna Luyima, Abubakari Batematyo, and Yahya Suleiman Mbuthia

 

Also included are Habib Suleiman Njoroge, Omar Awadh Omar, Mohammad Hamid Sulaiman, Seleman Hijar Nyamandondo, Mohammad Ali Mohammad, and Muzafar Luyima.

 

The defence lawyers are Caleb Alaka, Yunus Kasirivu, Julius Galisonga, Henry Kunya, Francis Onyango, Evans Ochieng, and Annette Badda.

 

Mugisha will be cross-examined by the defence lawyers on Thursday March 26.

 

Also on Friday, Muzafar Luyima failed in his bid to get bail. His lawyer Kunya had made a bail application, stating that he had spent excess time on remand (four years and six months), more than the maximum sentence (three years) for his alleged crime.

 

Muzafar Luyima is charged with 'being an accessory after the fact' contrary to Section 29 of the ATA. He is said to have helped out his siblings, the Luyima brothers.

 

Anguzu opposed the bail application, on grounds that the trial had commenced, and that it would be concluded soon.

 

The judge declined, saying "the reason I am declining is because the trial has started in earnest and should conclude inside two months."

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