Uganda’s political treason suspects

Police spokesperson Fred Enanga yesterday said in a statement that Lt Gen Henry Tumukunde will face charges relating to his utterances in a series of radio and television interviews, calling for support from a neighbouring country in removing the current leadership with or without a ballot.
Mr Enange did not name the neighbouring country.
Only last week, Gen Tumukunde was asked about Rwanda on NBS television, and he made comments that the police have indicated as a big part for his ongoing woes.
The long-running feud between Uganda and Rwanda got to a head last year in February when Rwanda closed its border with Uganda. Despite several rounds of talks between the leadership of the two countries, the border has not yet been reopened.
In the run up to the 2001 General Election, Uganda listed Rwanda along with the DR Congo and the Sudan as “hostile countries”. Uganda later accused Rwanda of supporting Dr Kizza Besigye’s first shot at the presidency in 2001.
Tensions between the two countries had been building up for quite some time by then.
The former speaker of Rwanda’s parliament, Mr Joseph Sebarenzi Kabuye, and a renegade military officer, Maj Alphonse Furuma, had fled Kigali to Kampala, where they separately issued statements critical of Mr Kagame’s leadership.

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Similarly, three UPDF officers: Samson Mande, Anthony Kyakabale and Edison Muzoora fled Kampala to Kigali, where they declared war against Mr Museveni’s government.
In August 2001 Dr Besigye was forced to flee into exile after receiving reports that he was to be arrested on treason charges.
His flight followed comments that Mr Museveni made at a press conference in Kampala in July in which he claimed that Dr Besigye had along with the three renegade UPDF officers formed a rebel group, the Popular Resistance Army (PRA) to fight his government.
But even after his return from exile in 2005, he was still charged with treason and had to do most of the campaigning ahead of the 2006 general elections from prison.

Timeline of events in tumukunde’s life

2001
Tumukunde is named head of the special task force for Mr Museveni’s re-election bid as his boss battled Reform Agenda’s Dr Kizza Besigye.

2003
March/April
Opposed plans to lift presidential term limits during a meeting at the National Leadership Institute (NALI) Kyankwanzi.

2005
April 13
His former aide at ISO, Mr Bernard Kibirige registers a political party, the Progressive Alliance Party (PAP), which is associated with Gen Tumukunde.
May31
Arrested on charges of causing financial loss of Shs379m to the government by inflating the army payroll with 650 ghost solders while serving as Commander of the Gulu-based 4th Division. He was also charged with neglect of duty and disobeying an order to appear before a committee that had been instituted to probe the ghost soldiers’ case. He was also charged with spreading harmful propaganda.
May 28
Ejected from Parliament after speaker Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi ruled that his was not a forced resignation. Later appeared on talk shows on CBS FM and Radio One, accusing the army leadership of blocking his retirement and warned against moves to amend the Constitution to remove term limits.

2006
April 19
General Court martial acquits him of charges of spreading harmful propaganda.

2013
April 18
General Court Martial drops charge of spreading harmful propaganda, but convicts and sentences him to a severe reprimand on the charge of military misconduct.

2015
Appointed member of President Museveni’s campaign team.

September
Retired from the army at the rank of Lieutenant General

2016

June 6
Named Minister of Security in Mr Museveni’s new Cabinet

2018
March 4
Lt Gen Tumukunde sacked aloAng with Inspector General of Police, Gen Kale Kayihura.

March 1
Lavishes praise on Dr Besigye as a very powerful, “development-oriented and peace- loving Ugandan.”

2020
March 3
Writes to Electoral Commission declaring intention to carry out nationwide consultations about possible candidature in next year’s general elections.
February 2
Military guards withdrawn from his homes in Kololo and Rukungiri