Renegade UPDF officer Itongwa dies in London

By Pascal Kwesiga

Renegade UPDF officer and former rebel leader, Herbert Itongwa, who went missing in Denmark where he had sought asylum in 1997, has died in London, his mother says.

It was reported that the army defector disappeared from Denmark after investigations into his asylum status revealed his criminal record.

His family said he breathed his last at around 8:00pm local time (EAT) on Friday.

His mother, Angelina Ssedyabana confirmed to New Vision on Saturday, that his son had died. She said that she learnt about her son’s death through her daughter who lives in Denmark.

“My son has died. I am in great pain because I had not seen him for many years and I don’t know how I will get the body,” lamented the 70-year old on phone.

Circumstances surrounding Itongwa’s death remain unclear.

“I was called by my daughter who told me that her brother had died. The phone went off as soon as she broke the news and I don’t know what killed him,” the grieving mother said.

She said has been staying with Itwongwa’s four children at her home in Nabweru, Wakiso district since her son, whose real names are Herbert Kikomeko Sseddyabane, fled the country.

Captain Juma Seiko said he had informed Gen. Salim Saleh about Itongwa’s death as requested by family members.

He said the former rebel leader was Saleh’s close friend before he left the country.

Schizophrenic and chronic paranoia

Itongwa was part of the first slot of NRA fighters who fought a five-year guerrilla war led by President Museveni that captured power in 1986, said Seiko.

Itongwa who was charged with war crimes in a Danish court in 2004, led the Uganda National Democratic Alliance rebel group allegedly responsible for the killings of the South Western regional police commander, Erisa Karakire, and his driver Samwiri Kakonge.

The group was also reported to have kidnapped the then health minister, James Makumbi. The minister was later released unharmed.

The deceased was later acquitted of the double murder in Denmark.

 The Court of Aalborg did not find substantial evidence that the axe carried by Itongwa was the murder weapon that killed the police chief and his driver. He was convicted for robbery only.

Itongwa was later diagnosed with schizophrenic and chronic paranoia by the Medico-legal council, the Danish council that determines the mental status of accused persons.

He was sentenced to indefinite treatment at a psychiatric hospital.

The court rejected the Prosecution’s demand that Itongwa be expelled from Denmark when he leaves the psychiatric hospital.

According to its law, the European nation does not expel persons to countries which retain the death penalty.

Itongwa arrived in Denmark in 1997 after his rebel group, which was mainly operating in central Uganda, was defeated.

He was given political asylum in 1999. In 2003, he was arrested in Aalborg, 140 miles northwest of Copenhagen, where he had been living.

The former army man’s prosecution was in line with the Geneva Convention, which calls for countries to prosecute war criminals.

The Danish Special International Crimes Office, responsible for prosecuting serious crimes committed abroad by people residing in Denmark, collected several testimonies from Uganda.

However, these were later overruled, allegedly because the witnesses were under pressure to speak out against the rebel leader.

Information on how his body will be transported, and where he will be buried, has not been communicated yet.