Mumbere cries out, says army holding him under house arrest

Despite having been released on bail subject to stringent conditions and restrictions on where he may travel to, Rwenzururu King (Omusinga) Charles Wesley Mumbere says he is being held under house arrest by the Army’s Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence.

Mr Mumbere was arrested on November 26, 2016, during an army raid on his Buhikira palace in Kasese Town and was first held at police’s high security Nalufenya detention centre in Jinja before he was remanded to Luzira Prison in December 2016.
The raid on the palace left more than 100 people, including royal guards and police officers, killed.

The Omusinga was arrested with close to 200 other loyalists during the raid and in the aftermath.
He, and co-accused, including former Acting Prime Minister Johnson Thembo Kitsumbire, face charges of treason, terrorism, murder, aggravated robbery and being in possession of illegal firearms.

In a written statement to his lawyers on May 4, the king notes that he has not enjoyed the freedom of movement granted by the High Court in Jinja two years ago because the army has to vet the motive to get out of his residence in Muyenga, a suburb of Kampala.
In his bail conditions, the Omusinga who says he has been “traumatised” since arrest, is restricted only to movements around Kampala, Wakiso and Jinja districts.

“Immediately I was released on bail by the High Court on February 6, 2017, the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI) secretly placed me under house arrest with stringent conditions. While the High Court had given me the freedom to move about within Kampala, Jinja and Wasiko, I am under house arrest without any freedoms deserved by a person on bail,” Mr Mumbere wrote to his layers.
The lawyers are Mr Ladislus Rwakafuzi, Mr Aaron Kiiza, and Kingdom Attorney General Alfred Makasi.

“I am not allowed to receive any visitors, not even the clergy. I am not allowed even to go to church to pray; I cannot even go to a supermarket and neither be allowed to go to the gym. The only place I can go to are hospitals and court,” he added.

He further claimed that CMI requires him to first seek permission to go to hospitals, saying that his life is in danger in case he or a member of his family gets an emergency medical condition that needs urgent attention. “On December 12, 2018, I had an emergency and was rushed to International Hospital Kampala at night.

Unfortunately, the Sargeant who was the commander of the unit (at my residence) was summoned by CMI and locked up for taking me to hospital without authorisation from above. What kind of bail is this? Why subject my health to such bureaucracy? Suppose it is an acute emergency which may result in death if delayed?” he further wrote.

He also required his lawyers to retrieve from Security the mobile phone of Queen Agnes Asimawe Ithungu, which he said was taken away by CMI operatives on July 18, 2018. He named a specific officer, a colonel, in this regard. At the time, the army denied carrying out any raids but Mr Mumbere claims that it happened at 2am after “social media claims that I had escaped”.

When contacted yesterday, the UPDF spokesperson, Brig Richard Karemire, declined to comment on the issues raised by Mr Mumbere.
He, however, said: “Security is trained to respond to emergencies. So security will respond accordingly in case of any emergency.” He added: “Bring the document to me.”

The king has also raised an issue of the army not providing security to Queen Ithungu and the children who are not restricted from going anywhere.

This security benefit for the Queen was being provided by the Uganda Police Force but it has reportedly been withdrawn since August last year when former Inspector General of Police Gen Kale Kayihura was replaced by Mr Martins Okoth-Ochola.

Police spokesperson Fred Enanga said he was not sure of the withdrawal of the security to the Queen and children. He promised to consult with the unit that provides security for Very Important Persons (VIP) but he had not reverted by press time repeatedly.

Last month, the king applied to the ICD to relax his bail conditions to allow him fly out of the country for an optical surgery after Mengo Hospital recommended that his condition could not be handled in the country.

The Omusinga said in the latest statement that he continues to await response from President Museveni to the request to foot the facilitation needed to fly out for the said surgery.

“In October last year when I went to a Specialist Optician, I was diagnosed and advised to seek medical attention abroad since both of my eyes needed surgery in order to prevent eventual blindness. I immediately wrote to the President to this effect. I attached the referral letter and requested for facilitation (as usual); I have not yet received any feedback about this,” he stated.

Mr Don Wanyama the Senior Press Secretary to the President, told Saturday Monitor that State House would attend to the request in the letter if it has truly been received.

“If the President receives it, I am sure it will be attended to,” he said adding that the Omusinga should follow up on the matter through official government channels.

Date set for pre-trial of Mumbere

Pre-trial. Meanwhile, the ICD has set the end of this month to be the time when the pre-trial for the Omusinga and his co-accused.
But he still maintains that his lawyers should attempt to secure bail for his guards who remain on remand in Kirinya prison in Jinja since 2016.

Mr Mumbere suggests that even before the trial whose duration is not known, some of the royal guards, especially the elderly, the sick and mothers who delivered in prison need bail so that their families take good care of them.
He also instructed his lawyers to pursue the recommendations of the report from the dialogue between the government and the cultural institution that was completed late last year.
The dialogue was chaired by Dr Ambrose Agona, the Executive Director of National Agricultural Research Organisation (Naro), under the patronage of Gen Coleb Akandwanaho also known as Salim Saleh.

This report has been tightly guarded by both of the negotiating team of the kingdom and the government.
But, according to the Omusinga’s statement, reconciliation and dropping of the charges by the state for harmony and sustainable development in the Rwenzori region seem to have formed part of the recommendations.

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