I swapped Amisom fuel for generator - UPDF officer

KAMPALA

A former commander of the UPDF troops of the Africa Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom), Lt Col Benson Olanya, has denied selling fuel for the military operations in Mogadishu, but said he exchanged it for a generator.

“I am wrongly accused of diverting 420 litres of fuel. The generator got spoilt and the technician tried to fix it for two days and failed. I brought the issue to the attention of Col Hassan Kimbowa (former battle group commander) who brought another generator and it also failed,” Lt Col Olanya told a military court in Makindye, Kampala, on Thursday.

“Upon failure to repair the available generator, I went out to a Somali civilian with the help of an interpreter and got a generator from one Muhammad who asked for money for the generator to be used. We agreed that I give him fuel because I did not have money,” Lt Col Olanya submitted.

Accusations
The State contends that commanders of the Ugandan peace contingent in Somalia sold fuel meant for operations. It is said the fuel was meant for transport, running the generator and cooking and its sale caused late meals due to the time spent on searching for firewood.

The State avers that in June last year, at Jowadi Town in Somalia, Lt Col Olanya diverted another 300 litres of fuel meant for the battalion operations.

On Thursday, Lt Col Olanya told the military court that they gave out fuel in payment to intelligence officers because they were doing work without pay.
The chairman of the General Court Martial, Gen Levi Karuhanga, remanded Lt Col Olanya and adjourned the hearing of the case to November 17.

Lt Col Olanya is one of the senior UPDF officers who are on separate trials before the military court over various offences relating to the Amisom operations in Somalia.

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