Former Inspector General of Police Gen Kale Kayihura and undisclosed number of his associates have been arrested. Highly placed sources say General Kayihura is being interrogated over yet to be disclosed allegations.
He was picked today from his Lyantonde home and flown to Kampala in a chopper for further investigations.
The arrest comes just hours after military personnel on Tuesday raided Courtyard International Hotel in Lyantonde District where Gen Kayihura has been a regular client and conducted a search operation.
One of the residents said the more than 40 plain clothed officers searched all the hotel rooms asking for the whereabouts of Kayihura.
Another source said the search was conducted at the neighboring Sky Blue hotel as well. Sources say General Kayihura was picked from his farm at Katebe village, Kasagama in Lyantonde District.
In a statement issued today (June 13, 2018), army spokesperson Brig Richard Karemire said Gen Kayihura is still a serving officer of the UPDF and has been staying in Kashagama, Lyantonde District since March 15, 2018 after handing over office of the IGP.
“Yesterday June 12, 2018, he was asked to report to the UPDF Chief of Defence Forces, Gen David Muhoozi at General Headquarters- Mbuya. A helicopter was subsequently dispatched to transport him from there but on arrival, Gen Kale had travelled to Mbarara and so it had to return to Entebbe Airforce Base. The helicopter was today sent back to Kashagama and has returned safely to Kampala with him on board.
President Museveni on March 4 fired Gen Kayihura and elevated Okoth Ochola, the then deputy police chief, to Inspector General of Police and named Gen. Elly Tumwine the Security Minister to replace Lt. Gen. Henry Tumukunde.
The President’s announcement which he also made on Twitter came after a series of tweets before, in which he spoke of a laxity in the Police and Prisons. He tweeted: “Some people talked about the Entebbe women, the people in Masaka that were hacked, the killing of Kaweesi, etc. In many of those cases, a number of suspects have been arrested and arraigned in courts of law. It is also true that in some cases, arrests have not been made yet.”
In an hour-long session in which he made 29 tweets, the President talked about unemployment and corruption. He said his tweets were in response to what people on social media had been saying after the death of Susan Magara.