Uganda's army court sets free 32 Kenyans jailed over possession of illegal firearms

The General Court Martial at Makindye in Uganda on Wednesday set free 32 Kenyans who were in April last year imprisoned for 20 years over illegal possession of firearms and ammunition in the Karamoja sub-region over procedural irregularities during the trial process.

This was after Brigadier General Freeman Mugabe reversed a ruling by Colonel Bernard Arinaitwe at the 3rd Division Military Court Martial based in Moroto District when they appeared before him after they were arrested on April 8, 2023, during a cordon and search operation by UPDF soldiers within Turkana Kraals at Lokiryaout village in Northern Uganda.

They were sentenced to 10 years each for the first count of jointly illegally owning 28 firearms and 10 more years for possessing 801 ammunitions without holding valid firearms certificates after pleading guilty.

In their appeal, they argued through Counsel Taremwa Darius, Soita Jessy, Atukunda Darius, and Okuda Ivan that the trial court erred in the law and fact when they failed to follow the procedure of trying children offenders after it was established that seven of them were children.

The trial court also erred in the law and facts when they failed to accord the appellants a fair hearing, when they enhanced sentences to the maximum without considering the mitigation factors thereby passing a harsh sentence, and not evaluating the evidence properly.

The counsel for the respondent (Uganda) prayed that the court be pleased to order a retrial of the accused.

Brigadier General Mugabe after listening to both counsels said that there were procedural irregularities that affected the entire trial process even though the accused persons pleaded guilty.

"The trial court considered that all the accused as adults whereas a medical examination reports indicated that seven of the accused were below the age of 18 years. The sentence of the trial court is hereby set aside," he ruled.

He stated that the court found merit in the appeal and also found out that a retrial of the accused would cause them an injustice.

"The court further finds that considering that the period of one year and 13 days that the accused spent in lawful custody and the period they spent serving the illegal sentence, there is no need for a retrial. The accused are hereby set free unless held on other lawful charges," Brigadier General Mugabe ruled.

The 32 herders were on April 8, 2023, arrested during a cordon and search operation by UPDF soldiers within Turkana Kraals in Northern Uganda, tried in The 3rd Division Military Court Martial based in Moroto District, and taken to Moroto Government Prison to serve their sentences.

The UPDF indicated that they had seized 27 AK 47 rifles, one self-loading rifle, 751 rounds of ammunition, 32 magazines, three sets of UPDF uniforms, and 19 bows and arrows from the 32.

This was after eight others were arrested in Uganda’s Kotido region as suspects involved in the killing of three Ugandan geologists and two UPDF officers who were mapping minerals in the Karamoja sub-region in March 2022.

The incidents resulted in a diplomatic tiff between Kenya and Uganda despite joint security operations from the two countries recovered two guns that suspected rustlers from Kenya's Turkana Community picked from the deceased soldiers.

Loima MP Protus Akuja, who was among the leaders from the Turkana Community who pleaded with the Ugandan authorities to release the herders said that he is currently in Kampala, Uganda to finalize the process of releasing them.

"We are very happy and delighted by the Court Martial Appeal Court's decision to set them free. The decision by the Appellant Court is a good gesture towards the spirit of East Africa corporation harmonious coexistence," Mr Akuja said.

He explained that there are other nine remaining herders still serving sentences in prison and promised that they will be pursued after the fulfillment of executive order No.3 of 2023 that required the surrendering of the killers of the geologists (the three of them were put out of action in different occasions after they defied police orders to surrender) and compensation of the families of the lost officers.

Tension escalated along the border when President Yoweri Museveni later in May issued an executive order compelling Kenya to hand over people accused of killing the five Ugandans failure to which the Kenyan herders would completely be banned from the country.

Those who crossed back due to persistent drought later raised concern over harassment from Ugandan authorities at the border with security officers strategically manning the border in respect to an executive order from the President.

Besides Mr Akuja, Governor Jeremiah Lomorukai, Senator James Lomenen, Loima MP Protus Akuja and County Speaker Christopher Nakuleu also reached out to Ugandan authorities to release the jailed herders and allow more than 30, 000 herders back to Uganda for pasture and water.

Governor Lomorukai even led a delegation of Turkana leaders to State House to voice their concerns with both Mr Lomenen and Mr Akuja raising the matter at both the Senate and the National Assembly.

On March 28, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki announced that Kenya and Uganda are engaged in diplomatic talks over the release of more than 32 Kenyan herders serving various sentences in Uganda.

"In the next three months, President William Ruto and his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni will also meet over the issue and discuss more on how to have a lasting peace along the border of the two countries," Prof Kindiki told journalists in Lodwar after meeting leaders and top security officials.

Mr Akuja whose Loima Constituency is most affected by the arrests, petitioned the Parliament seeking the intervention of the Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs for the repatriation of the 41 Kenyans jailed in Uganda.

He even blamed the Kenya government for ignoring the plight of its citizens who were being mistreated in Uganda.

On the other hand, Mr Lomenen told the Senate that 32 pastoralists from Urum and Lokiriama villages deserved a fair legal process with Speaker Amason Kingi referring the matter to the Standing Committee on National Security, Defence, and Foreign Relations.

In one of the high-profile peace meetings between Turkana leaders and representatives from Uganda headed by State Minister for Energy and Mineral Development Peter Lokeris, Governor Lomorukai in January this year appealed to President Museveni to accept 250 cows they will mobilize from pastoralists as compensation for the killings.

This was after it was established that compensation in the form of cows was considered a viable and acceptable way to restore the mutual relations between the border pastoral communities and the two Countries.

"We proposed that the Turkana community is ready to mobilize 250 heads of cattle for compensation to the families. Through compensation which is an alternative option in the executive order, the Turkana community is showing remorse to the family who lost loved ones and a desire to restore good relations and peaceful coexistence," Mr Lomorukai said.

He assured that investigations into the killings were ongoing and Kenyan authorities were committed to ensuring that those criminals that killed five Uganda nationals are brought to justice however how long it may take.

The leaders with support from local peace structures embarked on a manhunt for the culprits after it emerged that a criminal gang had emerged in Loima and was terrorizing residents at border towns and villages.

Loima Sub County Police Commander David Kabiru confirmed killed the gang leader identified as Peter Kuya, alias, Ikebusian was shot dead on February 2, at Lorugumu town, and a firearm was recovered.

Local authorities identified him as one of the three most sought-after criminals linked to various criminal activities in Uganda including the killings of geologists and UPDF officers.

Last month, Mr Kabiru said that some of the gang members who were operating at Lorugumu fled after their ring leader was killed and camped at Kabulokor villages where they recruited more members.

"Our intensified efforts to neutralize the proliferation of the gang in the area paid off after security personnel through coordination with locals and national police reservists helped kill three suspected gang members at Kang'alita on Saturday," Mr Kabiru said.

The three were identified as 37-year-old Simon Egielan Lopongorei, 39-year-old Lokucha Ngeruk a.k.a sharpshooter, and their 21-year-old accomplice Tiya Logumo. A firearm was recovered from the suspects.

Governor Lomorukai said that the deaths of the three were a breakthrough toward the fulfillment of the Presidential Executive order on handing over the culprits whether dead or alive.

Mr Akuja is accompanied by officials from the Turkana County government who include Turkana County Director of Peace Building and Conflict Management Titus Lokorikeju and Loima Sub County Administrator Jackson Apenyu.

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