DAY FIVE: What next for General Kale Kayihura

Monday June 18 2018

For five days now, General Kale Kayihura has been detained without charge or trial in any courts recognized in the constitution.

This is beyond the constitutionally stipulated 48 hours that he once asked Parliament to review.

Just like the English adage goes, as you lay your bed so you will lie in it.

General Kayihura would have never predicted that the review he advocated for would at one time be used against him.

A UPDF press statement released by the force’s spokesperson Brigadier Richard Karemire on the 14th of this month, notes that the General is being questioned but revealed no other details.

So, what then does this mean for the detained General and the state he served?

Dr. Daniel Ruhweza, the chairperson of the Rule of Law committee at the Uganda Law Society, says two wrongs cannot make a right, and he believes General Kayihura should be presented before a competent court and charged formally.

Dr. Ruhweza says following proper procedure will give credibility to Kayihura’s arrest and the UPDF will be viewed as upholding the rule of law.

If this is to happen, General Kayihura and his accomplices will be presented to the Court Martial for trial.

But, the court-martial cannot hold any sessions because the term of office for the current committee has expired.

Julius Galisonga, a human rights lawyer, says that this could be a planned move to frustrate the entire process.

If General Kayihura is tried in the court-martial, he will be the highest-ranking officer to appear in the dock.

This will also have implications on how the committee trying him will be constituted.

General Kale Kayihura’s arrest and detention comes on the heels of the Presidents’ tough stance on insecurity in the country and it is alleged that there could be incriminating evidence that senior police officers under Kayihura’s direct command could have been involved in undermining national security.