UPDF Byakutaga reported in USA

Nov 30, 2000

CAPTAIN Dan Byakutaga, the army paymaster who disappeared with US$1,055,555 (about sh1.9b) salary for soldiers in the Congo, is hiding in the US, sources said yesterday, reports Emmy Allio.

CAPTAIN Dan Byakutaga, the army paymaster who disappeared with US$1,055,555 (about sh1.9b) salary for soldiers in the Congo, is hiding in the US, sources said yesterday, reports Emmy Allio. The source, however, declined to name the state where Byakutaga was staying, but said he was alive and 'hiding' from certain powerful people in Kampala. "It is suspected that he used a passport with another name," the sources said. Other security sources said, "Anything on Byakutaga whereabouts is a mere speculation. But we cannot rule out him being in the US. What we are convinced about is that he is alive." Army spokesman Maj. Phinehas Katirima said, "We have absolutely no information on his whereabouts." But Stephen Byakutaga, a deputy commissioner with the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA), said he doubts whether his brother could be in the US. "I doubt if my brother could be in America and fail to tell us. This is just a lie," Stephen, who recently said he believes his brother is dead, said. The defence ministry is yet to make public the findings of a probe report handed to it by Brig. Ivan Koreta, the chief of Internal Security Organisation, who headed the team that investigated Byakutaga's disappearance. Last October, the army's former director of finance, Capt. Charles Nkurunungi, also left the country for the US under unclear circumstances. On September 19, 2000, the Buganda Road Court issued an international warrant for his arrest. The Army Council in July appointed a probe committee headed by Koreta, to investigate his disappearance. The report has not yet been published. Ends.

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