The parliamentary committee investigating the recent Kasese clashes and the top leadership of the army involved in the saga met yesterday. Journalists were barred from the meeting but even then The Daily Monitor somehow got to know what transpired in the meeting through sources.
According to the sources who reportedly attended the meeting, Charles Bakahumura, the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI) boss told the Defence and Internal Affairs committee that most of the royal guards found at the detained Rwenzururu King Charles Wesley Mumbere’s palace were Power10 militia.
Power10 aka P10 was a vigilante group for Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) formed during the election campaigns, and its being linked to the clashes, according to many people, is indirectly linking former FDC presidential candidate Dr. Kizza Besigye to the recent Kasese killings.
The Daily Monitor report quoted Bakahumura as saying: “Our findings are that most of the royal guards were recruited from within P10 militia.”
But in what appears to be a reaction to an outcry from FDC supporters, the UPDF through Spokesman Lt. Col. Paddy Ankunda, has come out to deny the statements attributed to Brig. Bakahumura.
“CMI chief has clarified that he never linked P10 to Kasese clashes nor did he deflect questions to the President while meeting MPs,” Lt. Col. Ankunda tweeted today.
“He clearly quotes the number of security persons who were killed and injured but asked to give an account from the palace raid, he referred the committee to the Division Commander (Brig Peter Elwelu),” The Daily Monitor report quoted a source as saying.
