Police catch ISO spies in petrol bomb attacks

The car carrying former Jinja RDC Eric Sakwa after it was petrol-bombed at Nakulabye, Kampala, on May 10.  PHOTO / COURTESY

What you need to know:

Since last year, several government and private vehicles have been targeted with petrol bombs.

Thirty-two people were on Tuesday charged in the General Court Martial in Kampala with capital offences, including unlawful possession of ammunition and explosive devices. 

The chairperson of the court, Lt Gen Andrew Gutti, said the accused were in possession of articles that are ordinarily the monopoly of the defence forces. He remanded them to Kitalya Prison, a civil prison, until June 22.

The suspects had earlier been arrested in connection with petrol bombs that were hurled at vehicles and petrol stations since last year.

Two Internal Security Organisation (ISO) operatives were among the dozens arrested by the Police Criminal Intelligence personnel following investigations.

Police and ISO sources confirmed the arrest of the operatives. But ISO sources said they were embedded to collect information. The spies were released by police after their superiors pleaded for them although police sources said investigations against them were still ongoing.

Since last year, several government and private vehicles have been targeted with petrol bombs in the cities of Kampala, Mbale and Jinja, which prompted the Directorate of Crime Intelligence to investigate.

A government car carrying Mr Eric Sakwa, the former resident district commissioner of Jinja District, was recently targeted in Nakulabye, a Kampala suburb. Private cars at Kireka Town and Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) head office near Central Police Station in Kampala, were also targeted last month.

A source said since the arrest of the ISO operatives mid last month, they haven’t received any incident of petrol bombing anywhere in the country.

The Deputy Inspector General of Police, Maj Gen Paul Lokech, said that all the suspects behind the attacks were arrested. Maj Gen Lokech, however, declined to comment on the arrest of operatives of their sister security agency. A police source said they want ISO to prove that the operatives had been assigned to carry out undercover operations against petrol bomb attackers. Daily Monitor understands that the evidence hasn’t yet been shared with the police.

When contacted, the head of ISO, Col Charles Oluka, said: “I don’t have any recollection of my personnel being arrested in that incident. Maybe, call my deputy [Lt Col Emmanuel] Katabazi.”

The person who answered Lt Col Katabazi’s known mobile number said it was a wrong number after our reporter identified himself.

Last Wednesday, during our investigations, a person, who identified himself as an ISO operative, called back using a known ISO telephone landline with an explanation.

“You know that we gather information to secure this nation. We pass on that information to our sister security agencies. It is the other agencies, including the police, which carry out arrests,” he said,

“Our operatives had been embedded in the gangs to understand their operations with a motive of arresting all the gang members. We explained to the police and understood it well that is why our personnel were released,” he added.

The ISO officer described the leak of the information as a smear campaign against the domestic spy agency by some members of the police investigations and intelligence units.

Past claims

Last year, the police said they suspected that the supporters of the National Unity Platform led by Mr Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine, were behind the petrol bomb attacks. Members of the Opposition denied any involvement in the attacks, but allege that the incidents are staged to act as a pretext to arrest their supporters and justify military deployments.