Tumwine To Try City Suspects

By Grace Matsiko and Steven CandiaPRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni has appointed Lt. Gen. Elly Tumwine to head a court martial to try armed thugs that have terrorised the country.State minister for information Basoga Nsadhu last evening said, “I know that His Excellency (the President) signed the instrument yesterday (Wednesday).” It was not readily established who the other members of the court are.The Inspector General of Police, Maj. Gen. Katumba Wamala, said on Wednesday the Military Court had been constituted to try the armed thugs arrested under Operation Wembley, the code-name for the nationwide anti-robbery drive.The President recently directed that armed thugs behind the recent spate of crime be court-martialled.Meanwhile, the deputy director general of Internal Security Organisation (ISO), Col. Elly Kayanja, has attacked the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) for protesting the killing of suspected robbers by his squad.Kayanja told a press conference at the President’s Office, Nakasero yesterday that the suspected robbers killed or arrested have “passed through the same hand of judges and lawyers who are condemning security agencies.”The JSC said the shooting of suspected robbers on sight was a breach of the Constitution. Kayanja said, “Most of these people arrested or put out of action have passed through their hands.”Kayanja is the overall commander of Operation Wembley.State minister for information Basoga Nsadhu moderated the briefing.Kayanja was supported by the Director of Information at the Movement Secretariat, Ofwono Opondo, and the political assistant to the President, Moses Byaruhanga. “Some lawyers and politicians are allies of the thugs,” Ofwono said.“They cannot blackmail the State to compare this government to that of Amin,” he added.Byaruhanga said the critics were in an alliance with Black, a suspected city thug whom Kayanja said wants to kill him.Ofwono added, “The judges enjoy physical and undercover protection so they can’t be killed. Tell them they are not going to blackmail this country.” Kayanja said seven security personnel had been killed on a mission to arrest suspects. “I would have expected the people to defend the rights of innocent civilians killed in cold blood. Instead they are defending the rights of killers,” Bryaruhanga said.Kayanja said UPDF deputy director of sports, Capt. Moses Kabusenene, arrested last week, was being held in connection with robberies. He said about 150 suspected robbers including two Indians, Senegalese and a Tanzanian, had been arrested.Ends