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The mission looked accomplished. Suspects had confessed to the crime but silently, a war was simmering. Who was to take the credit for arresting suspects behind the 7/11 bomb attacks that left 76 people dead?
Yesterday, this clash came to the fore when the police and the army openly feuded on who was to be lauded for apprehending the suspects.
Both security organs held parallel press conferences at about the same time—each seeking to be credited for the accomplishment.
The police chief, Maj. Gen. Kale Kayihura, who held a press conference at the Uganda Media Centre in Kampala at 12.20pm, said the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence, which had paraded the suspects about an hour earlier at its headquarters in Kitante, had acted “unprofessionally”.
“That is unprofessional. I don’t want to argue before the press but we shall sort them out later,” Maj. Gen. Kayihura said after learning of the army briefing.
He wondered how suspects could be paraded when investigations were still ongoing. “This will jeopardise our investigations. Please I plead with you to just give us one day and publish those photographs,” he said.
Maj. Gen. Kayihura learnt later that the information he was reluctant to give had already been given out to the press by the head of CMI, Brig. James Mugira and army and Defence spokesperson Lt. Col. Felix Kulayigye.
He said the police were the lead-agency in hunting for the suspects while the Joint Anti Terrorism Task Force and CMI were “just to keep suspects in custody”.
Brig. Mugira had earlier on paraded four key suspects, given out the details of the investigations and even given them a chance to narrate their alleged operations to the media.
Brig. Mugira told reporters: “We promised the public that we would hunt down the perpetrators. We have kept our promise. We have apprehended all those responsible for the planning and execution of these cowardly attacks.”
Lt. Col. Kulayigye when contacted later said he could not respond to his superiors through the media.
The mission looked accomplished. Suspects had confessed to the crime but silently, a war was simmering. Who was to take the credit for arresting suspects behind the 7/11 bomb attacks that left 76 people dead?
Yesterday, this clash came to the fore when the police and the army openly feuded on who was to be lauded for apprehending the suspects.
Both security organs held parallel press conferences at about the same time—each seeking to be credited for the accomplishment.
The police chief, Maj. Gen. Kale Kayihura, who held a press conference at the Uganda Media Centre in Kampala at 12.20pm, said the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence, which had paraded the suspects about an hour earlier at its headquarters in Kitante, had acted “unprofessionally”.
“That is unprofessional. I don’t want to argue before the press but we shall sort them out later,” Maj. Gen. Kayihura said after learning of the army briefing.
He wondered how suspects could be paraded when investigations were still ongoing. “This will jeopardise our investigations. Please I plead with you to just give us one day and publish those photographs,” he said.
Maj. Gen. Kayihura learnt later that the information he was reluctant to give had already been given out to the press by the head of CMI, Brig. James Mugira and army and Defence spokesperson Lt. Col. Felix Kulayigye.
He said the police were the lead-agency in hunting for the suspects while the Joint Anti Terrorism Task Force and CMI were “just to keep suspects in custody”.
Brig. Mugira had earlier on paraded four key suspects, given out the details of the investigations and even given them a chance to narrate their alleged operations to the media.
Brig. Mugira told reporters: “We promised the public that we would hunt down the perpetrators. We have kept our promise. We have apprehended all those responsible for the planning and execution of these cowardly attacks.”
Lt. Col. Kulayigye when contacted later said he could not respond to his superiors through the media.
