The maverick, highly decorated officer was arrested from his farm in Kashagama, Lyantonde district on June 13, 2018.
Brigadier Richard Kalemire, the UPDF spokesperson told Matooke Republic on phone that Kayihura was in good shape, perfect health and accessible to his family and lawyers despite media reports that former policeman was ill and had asked to seek treatment abroad.
“Kale is our General and we take good care of our Generals. His welfare is our priority. That is why I told those media [Bukedde] people stop writing bad things about him,” Karemire said.
Kayihura is currently being detained at Makindye Military Barracks living in the house of the barracks commandant. He has 24-hour military surveillance and is allowed to watch television, read newspapers and step out only to the verandah of the house.
High profile visitors
According to our exclusive sources, Kayihura has received a number of high profile visitors including General Caleb Akandwanaho alias Salim Saleh with an objective to broker a deal with the government that would see Kayihura regain his freedom.
“He does not want to talk to anyone other than the President,” our sources revealed implying that the Kayihura-Saleh meeting did not yield any positive results.
Although he was arrested alongside other high ranking police officers that he worked closely with such as Herbert Muhangi, Col Atwooki Ndahura, Kayihura is being held alone.
No interrogation or statement yet Hon. Elly Karuhanga, a senior partner at Kampala Associated Advocates (KAA), the law firm representing Kayihura told Matooke Republic that government had neither preferred any charges against their client nor recorded a statement about his arrest.
“It is not true that the general has been interrogated. As a matter of fact, he hasn’t even recorded an ink of statement yet. He does not know why he is being held,”
Karuhanga said.
Karuhanga further revealed that as a soldier, Kayihura is allowed to exercise, read books and watch television adding that the General was angry by how the local media have covered stories surrounding his arrest.
“The media has mastered the smear campaign against Kayihura. He has been charged with murder, espionage, treason, kidnaps among other heinous crimes when the courts have not charged him with any,” he added.
Despite his irregular detention, Karuhanga said that his client has not instructed the firm to apply for habeas corpus – a constitutional provision that a person arrested but not charged within 48 hours can walk free.
Court-martial?
Being a military officer, there has been speculation that Kayihura would appear before the General Court Martial. This speculation was further fueled by the renewal of Maj. Gen. Andrew Guti’s term of office as the Court’s chair.
The Court resumed business on July 3, 2018 after the new jury took oath. However, UPDF spokesman Richard Karemire told Matooke Republic that Kayihura will not be appearing in this or any other court because “he is not under arrest,” “We are the army. We know what we are doing. All we need is time and space to do our work,” he added.
Jet Tumwebaze, another partner at Kampala Associated Advocates said in a phone interview that neither of the charges reported in the media can stand in courts of law.
“There is no iota of credibility in the charges the media has been reporting. I have personally followed them up and they cannot even stand in a Taliban court,” he noted.
Tumwebaze explained that charges like murder, deportation have already been preferred on other characters and overwhelming evidence to support the accusations presented.
“To charge Kayihura with the same would mean releasing the other characters yet there is already more than overwhelming evidence against them. The charges simply cannot stand scrutiny,” he noted.
Tumwebaze who has been present during the search of Kayihura’s home said that no gun reportedly linked to a high profile murder was found at the home adding that Kayihura never attempted to flee the country before his arrest.
“We are talking about a General. Which General can kill someone and hide the gun at his house? Even a crime preventer cannot do such. Kayihura rose through the ranks without even a caution on his record. Such discipline is out of this world. You don’t become a General by running from from situations,” he added.
Kayihura’s normal day at a glance
To stay fit and in shape, he wakes up to a routine exercise that mostly features pushups, press-ups, and stretches. His fridge is stocked with mostly mineral water which he uses to keep himself hydrated.
He then steps out of the house to catch some air and greet his 24-hour security guards before having breakfast which is prepared by his family members as are all other meals. Kayihura’s son, daughter and wife Angella visit the general at every convenience.
If he is not in the mood of entertaining visitors, Kayihura keeps indoors watching cable television on the Samsung Flat TV or reading a book from the verandah.
He does not have private conversations even when talking to his family, lawyers or on the phone provided to him by the barracks commandant Col. William Bainomugisha which does not make any outgoing calls.