Gen Katumba Wamala addresses journalists in Bundibugyo District yesterday. PHOTO BY RUTH KATUSABE
Posted Tuesday, July 15 2014 at 01:00
IN SUMMARY
Army commander tells King Mumbere to stop making comments when in angry mood as more suspected attackers surrender to the UPDF.
BUNDIBUGYO
The Chief of Defence Forces, Gen Katumba Wamala, yesterday warned the Rwenzururu King, Charles Wesley Mumbere, over his defiant and angry response to President Museveni following the arrest of his three kingdom officials in connection with the July 5 armed attacks in Rwenzori region.
Gen Wamala, who was visiting the volatile western Uganda districts of Kasese and Bundibugyo, said: “You should never make a statement when you are angry. King Mumbere made statements when he was angry over the arrest of his kingdom officials. But now he can’t retract them,” Gen Katumba said while speaking to journalists
in Bundibugyo Town.
Defiant mood
In a defiant mood, King Mumbere told the journalists at his Palace in Kasese Town last Thursday that President Museveni was wrong to say that they agreed that Rwenzururu Kingdom would only operate in Kasese.
King Mumbere also denied that his loyalists were behind the attacks and accused government of “chasing a wrong enemy”. The king also accused government of being “biased” against his kingdom. Gen Wamala, who is visiting the region for the second time since the attacks that have left at least 90 dead, also met the UPDF court martial team which begins trying of the suspects today.
Following the attacks in the districts of Kasese, Ntoroko and Bundibugyo on civilians and military positions, the arrested suspects implicated some Rwenzururu Kingdom officials, including the Rwenzururu prime minister, Mr Noah Nzaghale, who was arrested and released at the weekend. His deputy, Mr Yeremia Mutooro, is still in custody.
The army and police have heightened their presence in the region and the situation remains tense as they continue to mop up the area, searching for the guns that were captured by the attackers from police stations.
Gen Wamala will also visit some families that lost their relatives during the attacks. He held closed meetings with Bundibugyo security officials.
Gen Wamala urged the people of the Rwenzori sub-region to comply with the amnesty offered by the government and return the lost guns. About 13 guns have so far been recovered out of the 20 lost.
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