It has been a week since the famous helicopter flew General Kale Kayihura from his farm in Kashagama, Lyantonde district to the military barracks in Makindye where he has since been detained. With no clear charge slapped against the former Inspector General of Police (IGP) yet, the media, public opinion and political circles alike have all been confused as to when, where and what the Kayihura might be charged with and the gravity of punishment the charges might carry.
There is general consensus in most sections of the public that Kayihura had a hand in several crimes – some extending to capital offences and should there face the music.
But being high ranking military officer who has enjoyed cordial relations with the president, there is a lot than just Kayihura’s future at stake and experts say that this can give the former policeman enough leverage to procure his freedom.
Read: Kayihura haunted by his Rwandan ethnicity – Mwenda
Touch not the president’s man
In December 2015, as the general election drew closer, there was a nasty fight between the supporters of the then Go Forward Candidate, Amama Mbabazi and those of his ally cum rival Yoweri Museveni of the National Resistance Movement (NRM) in Ntungamo district. Not only did Kayihura unleash his anti-riot force that crushed Mbabazi’s supporters like samosas, the police helicopter was seen airlifting some NRM fanatics to posh hospitals in Kampala. When journalists probed the then IGP to explain his decision, his answer was simple. “I work on orders from Museveni.”
In fact, the maverick General who the president himself repeatedly described as a loyal cadre. Indeed, Kayihura had his tenure at the helm of the police renewed in May 2017. He was fired eight months later and arrested barely three months after. Could the president have known that his ‘loyal cadre’ had gone rogue but chose not to do anything until lives of people and national resources were lost be an indication that Kayihura played by a different set of rules?
What’s more, Kayihura was also at the forefront of the investigations and arraigning of numerous suspects, some of whom have been acquitted after long detentions and torture sessions at dreaded places like Nalufenya in Jinja while others are still in the coolers.
All the available justice systems be it High Courts, the General Court Martial have tried suspects arrested by Kayihura’s police on different charges. And these are the same systems that he is going to face for charges he already arrested other people for committing. Fascinating right?
Where did the the exhibits and other evidence that prosecution presented to court to prove their case against these suspects come from? And most intriguing, how will this evidence be turned and be pinned on Kayihura to prove that he is guilty?
ANALYSIS: Will Museveni’s ‘Big Brother’ antics stop rampant murders, kidnaps?
Jeopardising national security
Everyone knows that to be an IGP, you have a lot power, resources, access to information and security and military intelligence that can jeopardize the current state of affairs. Kayihura therefore is a moving record of all operations the NRM has been conducting both officially and off the record (need to know). If he is to be interrogated for information, so many covers – call them identities – are going are going to be blown and it is hard tell how high in command the trail might go.
Two questions then arise; is the higher power willing to deal with the damage that might arise with the revelation of classified information? And two, how safe will the nation be if such information becomes public?
This information and its revelation will be determined by the courts to which Kayihura is acquitted for trial. The General Court Martial (GCM) which will most likely take lead is going to raise the spotlight on itself.
The Chairman, Lt. Gen Andrew Gutti, whose tenure was renewed on Tuesday, June 19, by the UPDF High Command will in putting a Four-star General on the stand have not only made a record for trying his superior but will also have to reflect that no matter your loyalty to the establishment, there comes a time when you have to face judgement.
The same will trickle down through the military circles to the police force where young officers determined to make a difference are. If Kayihura, a four-star general, who admitted to be serving at the pleasure of the president can be treated as such, then what awaits you? And most importantly to the appointing authority; by allowing Kayihura to be tried in whatever court, what message will he be sending?
The writer is Journalist and Founder of The Workshop Uganda
