Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF) has for the first time come out to respond to claims that former Police Chief, Gen Kale Kayihura was hatching a robust plan of toppling the regime.

Kayihura who remains in detention at Makindye military barracks to date since his arrest mid last month, is accused of murdering his junior officer AIGP Andrew Felix Kaweesi at a time he was at the helm of the police establishment.

The former IGP would later be sacked by the Commander I Chief (CiC) in March this year and thereafter arrested from Lake Mburo in Western Uganda, as he attempted to flee the country according to media reports.

Since, his incarceration along with other former police top commanders who include Hebert Muhangi, Ndahura Atwooki, and several others, Kayihura is yet to be tried in any court.

However, TrumpetNews on Wednesday broke a story how Kayihura’s juniors are contemplating testifying against him in his alleged involvement into subversion with the help of a neighbouring country.

“Kayihura’s arrest has nothing to do with Kaweesi’s death. It is about Rwanda,” a source earlier told this website.

It is against this backdrop that the military has been pursuing Kayihura’s ex personal assistant Jonathan Baroza who in his return from Algeria where he had been deployed in 2017, vanished from Turkish Airport.

Baroza had been summoned by the new IGP Martin Okoth Ochola for an urgent business in Kampala.

A source said, Baroza agreed to become a state witness in Kayihura’s case only to learn he was being lured into an arrest.

Ochola, on Wednesday announced Baroza is being hunted in all corners of the world.

Interview

Speaking to the army publicist at his office in Mbuya on Thursday on reports linking Gen Kayihura to a coup plot, Brig Richard Karemire responded; “One would be living in a dream land to contemplate overthrowing a people’s elected government.”

He however declined to acknowledge or deny if the army has established whether it is true Kayihura worked closely with the neighbouring country to depose the government but instead said his (Kayihura’s) long detention is based on “questioning him on a broad range of issues.”

Asked to expound on these ‘broad range of issues’ Karemire said, “the military isn’t at liberty to disclose them.”

Karemire was uncertain when the “questioning” will end since Kayihura’s issues are “too many” and was too quick to add that UPDF fully understands the laws of this country.

His response follows criticism from a section of the public which believes Kayihura’s rights are being violated since he is yet to be produced in Court if at all he has a case to answer, “it is our prayer that these laws are properly contextualised and properly situated,” he said.

He warned that UPDF is not “scared of anything” be it those using different channels to dent its image in relation to Gen Kayihura’s continued detention.

“He is not the first General to be arrested,” Karemire concluded.