Major Pop Francis Origi, a Ugandan officer serving under the Africa Union Mission to Somalia, has been jailed for one year and demoted to rank of Captain, after he was convicted for selling military supplies.
Maj Origi, who was arraigned before the AMISOM Military Court in Mogadishu, faced the charges with 17 other Ugandan peacekeepers, whose trial was adjourned to a later date. Ugandan soldiers serving under AMISOM have occasionally had to contend with accusations of selling military logistics, and in October 2013 forty soldiers were arrested on the orders of President Yoweri Museveni, for allegedly engaging in the vice.
And in June this year, the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF) came in the spotlight after five of its soldiers serving under AMISOM were arrested by Somali authorities in Mogadishu for stealing and selling military supplies and fuel.
At the time UPDF spokesman Lt. Col. Paddy Ankunda confirmed the arrests of the soldiers and said investigations had been initiated to establish the facts.
“It is true they (Ugandan soldiers) were arrested for being involved in the black market trade,” Lt. Col. Ankunda told EagleOnline then.
