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    Former IGP Family In Danger As Lt. Gen. Otema, Son Vendalize Their Home, Fire Bullets Over Land Conflict…

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    L-R: UPDF boss Lt. Gen. Charles Otema, his son Akucu Otema and Nancy Erinayo Oryema

    The family of the first black Inspector General of Uganda Police Lt. Col. Wilson Erinayo Oryema is in danger after Lt. Gen. Charles Otema, the Commander of the Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) reserve force vandalized their home, fired bullets and threatened to kill them over a land conflict in Nwoya district.

    While crying for help on phone, Nancy Erinayo Oryema, the grand daughter to the former IGP told theGrapevine that soldiers commanded by a one Sgt. Komakech stormed their home at Tangi Village, Purongo sub county in Nwoya district and started firing bullets in air vowing that whoever stands in their way will be shot.

    Nancy added that they tried to resist while explaining to Sgt. Komakech that they have a Court Order issued by Gulu High Court stopping Lt. Gen. Otema from evicting them from the contested land until their matter before Justice Phillip Odoki is heard.

    However, their pleas fell on deaf ears and she was ordered together with her family members to vacate the land because they have the order from Lt. Gen. Otema to protect his land.

    She further said that she explained to Sgt. Komakech that the 4th Division Commander Brigadier General Michael Kabango and the Chief of Defense Forces Gen. Wilson Mbasu Mbadi have received their petition over Lt. Gen. Otema’s violation of Court Orders but they only informed her that they are not under the command of Brig. Gen. Kabango but under the Command of Lt. Gen. Otema who brought them from Bombo barracks.

    “theGrapevine please helps us, these people are determined to kill us like Idi Amin did to our grandpapa, why is the army always targeting our family,” a tearful Nancy told this website on the phone.

    She added that this is not the first time when Lt. Gen. Otema is threatening their lives.

    She divulged that on August 19, 2023, Christopher Opwonya Akucu Otema Awany, the son of Lt. Gen. Otema led a raid with the help of UPDF armed soldiers on their ancestral home where Oryema their grandfather was buried.

    Shots were fired, and an attempted robbery occurred.

    She provided video evidence captured on CCTV camera when Akucu Otema gave orders to the soldiers and oversaw the destruction of property.

    She added that the following day, on August 20, 2023, Lt. Gen. Otema himself arrived on foot with a group of soldiers, took the CCTV camera footage, and continued firing shots at the late Oryema’s grave.

    She divulged that they have already taken legal action through filing police cases against Akucu and Lt. Gen. Otema at Nwoya Central Police station.

    The charges include; attempted murder, attempted robbery, aggravated robbery, malicious damage to property, and trespass.

    The stolen property and damages are estimated to be worth over sh. 20 million.

    She told theGrapevine that Sgt. Komakech told her that Lt Gen Otema ordered them to execute the eviction as they did to Got Okwara in Lungulu sub-county where over 6600 families were evicted.

    In 2019, Nancy led the family of the late Oryema and petitioned Justice Catherine Bamugemereire’s Land Probe accusing Lt. Gen. Otema of grabbing their 6400 acres of land and 4500 heads of cattle and forcing their family members to run into exile in United Kingdom for fear for their lives.

    “Everybody here understands the way our grandfather (Erinayo) was murdered by Idi Amin, my Lord, our entire family is still traumatized and no one wants to confront army men. When General Otema came here with military men and started threatening the lives of my relatives, they were forced to join us in the United Kingdom where we stay as exiles,” Nancy narrated to Justice Bamugemereire.

    She added that when all her relatives fled the country, Otema started sub-diving their land and giving it to his relatives.

    Bamugemereire’s commission was told that among the beneficiaries was Lt. Gen. Otema’s brother and also the National Resistance Movement (NRM) Secretary General Richard Todwong and top military men in Acholi, police officers and RDC’s who are now using the land for farming and other agricultural business.

    Nancy also surprised the commission when she revealed that Lt. Gen. Otema provoked them when he decided to bury his father, the late Mzee Savio Ojok Awany near the very place they buried their grandfather Erinayo Oryema.

    She said that as a family, they tried to seek help from President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, who she said asked his family to come back to Uganda because it was now a peaceful country, to reign in on his General (Otema) in vain.

    “My Lord, the only option we had was to seek a court injunction stopping general Otema from burying his father near my grandfather. We succeeded and we were given a court order that Lt. Gen. Otema violated and he proceeded with burying his father near our grandfather and even damaged his grave,” Nancy said.

    She now says at that moment, they didn’t have a place to call home.

    Efforts to get a comment from Lt. Gen. Otema or his son were fertile because their phones were off.

    However, sources close to them revealed that they are out of the country.

    It should however be remembered that Lt. Gen. Otema told a local radio station that he bought the contested land from one of the members of the Oryema family and he has documents to support his claim.

    He also boasted that he helped Oryema’s family to come back to the country from exile where they spent years.

    When Grapevine contacted, UPDF spokesperson Brig. Gen. Felix Kulayigye, he did not pick our calls on his two known phone numbers.

    His deputy Col. Deo Akiiki told us that he was attending a military ceremony where he was the master of ceremony.

    He advised us to send him a WhatApp or text message which we did but he did not respond by the time theGrapevine published this story.

     

    By Sengooba Alirabaki

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    CRIME

    Brig. Gen. Ddamulira Advised To Clear Air On Allegation Of Shielding Criminal Gangs To Avoid Ending Up Like Gen. Kayihura…

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    Criminal Intelligence boss Brig. Gen. Christopher Ddamulira

    Uganda’s representative to the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) James Kakooza has advised the nonsense police’s Director for Criminal Intelligence Brig. Gen. Christopher Ddamulira Sserujogi to come up openly and clear the air on allegation made against him of shielding criminal gangs in Kampala city and Metropolitan areas because he fears a nasty ending like former Inspector General of Police Gen. Edward Kale Kayihura.

    Kakooza revealed that when Gen. Kayihura was at the helm of police leadership, allegations were made against him that he used criminal gangs to solve political questions.

    Kakooza narrated that he severally pleaded with Kayihura that if the allegations are true, he should stop because it was soiling his name.

    He added that Gen. Kayihura’s enemies based on his cooperation with criminal gangs to fabricate criminal allegations against him including pinning him over his involvement in the high level murders in the country.

    He stated that President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni based on the said allegation to fire Kayihura from police leadership and ordered for his arrest and prosecution in the court martial.

    “If president Museveni didn’t handle Gen Kayihura’s issues with maturity and experience, he would have ended up being sentenced to death or life imprisonment because the allegations placed on him were very treasonous. So my young brother Brig. Gen. Ddamulira should come out and clear the air on those allegations put against him,” Kakooza stated.

    He added that Brig. Gen. Ddamulira’s statement will not only cleared him but it will also clear the good name of the UPDF institution.

    Kakooza’s advice comes days after Kira Municipality legislator and also the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) spokesperson Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda accused Brig. Gen. Ddamulira of shielding criminals that beat up FDC delegates and stole their belongings both at Busabala and Katonga where they had gone to attend the Extra-Ordinary Delegates Conference summoned by party national chairperson Wasswa Birigwa.

    The Observer newspaper journalist Baker Batte also accused the criminal gang of stealing his brand new laptop.

    However, while speaking to theGrapevine, Batte confirmed that his latotop was recovered by Katwe police even though they have not yet handed it over to him.

    The ghetto leadership in Kampala city, Mukono, Wakiso districts also issued a statement asking Ssemujju to apologize to Brig. Gen. Ddamulira for tarnishing his name that he is shielding criminal gangs in the city.

    Shafik Kalyango, the coordinator ghetto structures, John Lukuse and Geoffrey Nsamba who were arrested by police for terrorising FDC delegates.

    They confessed that they are members of the ghetto structures which is supervised by State House, Brig. Gen. Ddamulira and officials from the ministry in charge of Kampala Metropolitan whose objective is to turn them into good citizens.

    Kalyango added that they are mobilizing the ghetto youths who have not yet joined their structures to avoid being used by the politicians to fight their battles against their political enemies and among them are those who beat FDC delegates and journalists.

    Ssemujju admitted to having seen Kalyango’s letter on social media even though it he not yet been officially served.

    He appreciated the efforts made by Brig. Gen. Ddamulira to organise youths in the city.

    He added that officially, Brig. Gen. Ddamulira denied having knowledge of the criminals hired by the Najjanankumbi FDC camp of party president Patrick Amuriat Oboi and Nathan Nandala Mafabi the Secretary General.

    Ssemujju however noted that there are elements in security circles who are working with criminal gangs in the city.

    He pleaded with Brig. Gen. Ddamulira to use his office to tame them because they will wreak havoc in the country.

     

    By Sengooba Alirabaki

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    CRIME

    Serial Litigant Wants High Court Judge Mutonyi To Be Sentence To Death By Hanging Or Beheaded For Failing To Post His Ruling On Judiciary Website…

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    Justice Margaret Mutonyi

    George Okello, the Resident High Court Judge of Gulu has issued a permanent injunction restraining and baring serial litigant Joseph Opiyo Otiiti from filing any other Court lawsuits against any judicial officer in Uganda.

    In his ruling dated 12th September, 2023, Judge Okello stated that whereas his court appreciates the right of every person to access courts, as observed in a plethora of cases, the matter before him was a very exceptional case in which Opiyo should be barred from continuing his reckless suits against judicial officers simply because they have decided otherwise in cases where he is involved.

    The shocking ruling resulted from an application filed by Opiyo against Vian Kwizera the Grade One Magistrate accusing him of violating his rights when he presided over a matter filed by Gulu Principle State Attorney Joseph Nyeko against him seeking a Court Order to subject Opiyo to mental examination.

    Opiyo sued the Magistrate for allowing Nyeko’s application to have him subjected to medical examination to determine his mental status as Stated under Section 50 of the Mental Health Act 2018.

    Opiyo also accused the magistrate of violating his right when he delayed the quick hearing of his application challenging the staying of his cases in court until he was subjected to mental examination and court furnished with the medical report.

    He further accused him of refusing to give him the record of proceedings to help him challenge his ruling.

    In his application, Opiyo was also seeking aggravated damages of Shs350, 000,000 for defamation and for calling him a person of unsound mind.

    He further prayed that court recovers damages through attachment of 80% of the Magistrates’ salary and retirement benefits, until all his pending cases in court are concluded and finally executed.

    He further prayed for security for himself and his family for 50 years due to fear that he will be murdered.

    He prayed for the prosecution of the magistrate and other judicial officers who violated his human rights.

    The magistrate opposed the application through her affidavit denying all the allegations and explaining that she observed the applicant’s rights during all the judicial hearings.

    He added that none of the applicant’s rights were violated and he gave him all the records of the proceedings on the matter he presided over.

    Nyeko’s application to subject Opiyo to medical examination resulted from the numerous lawsuits filed against judicial officers including one he filed against Justice Margaret Mutonyi because she had upheld preliminary objection raised in a suit lodged by Opiyo against the Actions Against Hunger and the judge was sued together with two law firms of M.S M. Oyet and Company Advocates, Mumtaz Kassam Kassam Mumtaz and Moses Oyet lawyers of Action Against Hunger.

    The judge noted that it was wrong for Opiyo to sue judicial officers, lawyers and their law firms explaining that judicial officers and Advocates enjoyed immunity at common law for their conduct of litigation and that the action made against them by an unhappy litigant was barred.

    The case was presided over by Justice Stephen Mubiru who dismissed it with costs for being barred by law.

    Opiyo again instituted a lawsuit against Justice Mubiru for dismissing his case together with Justice Mutonyi who he accused of not posting the ruling she made against him on judiciary website.

    He pleaded to the presiding judge Alex Mackay Ajiji that Justice Mutonyi be sentenced to death by hanging or beheading over her actions of not posting his ruling on the judiciary website, which was an act of war against the Republic of Uganda.

    The presiding judge ordered in his ruling that due to compulsive behavior Opiyo exhibited in Court, the hearing of his numerous cases pending in court be stayed until a medical report is furnished as to his mental health status.

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    KCCA Top Boss Remanded To Prison Over Shs450m Fraudulent Deals…

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    Nakawa Chief Magistrates Court’s Ritah Neumbe Kidasa has remanded Hanniffer Mpuugu the deputy mayor Kampala Central Division over Shs450m fraudulent land deals.

    Court denied Mpuugu’s application seeking to be released on court bail based on the affidavit sworn by police detective Peter Abwona who pleaded to the magistrate not to release her claiming that she will jump the bail.

    In his affidavit presented to court by Doreen Erima the State Attorney, Abwona told Court that when the accused person was arrested by Kira Road police operatives in August 2022 on the said file, she was given police bond which she violated and declined to report back to police as one of the conditions given to her when released.

    Abwona said that Mpuugu’s file was forwarded to the Resident State Attorney for sanctioning and was later taken to court which issued criminal summons to have her arrested but she kept in hiding until an arrest warrant was issued against her.

    He explained to court that detectives traced her through her phone engagements but she kept on changing lines until they finally arrested her along Kampala-Gayaza road when she was with her children going for a party at Kasangati.

    The magistrate was convinced with Erima’s submission and objected to Mpuugu’s application for bail.

    She was remanded until 13th September, 2023 when the hearing of her case will be kicked off.

    According to court documents, in 2021, Mpuugu entered a land transaction with Grace Mulinde to sell him land situated at plot 4 Berkeley Road Entebbe Municipality in Wakiso district.

    The accused person was paid Shs450m and she assured the complainant that the land had no issues and that she was free to use.

    However, when he started using the land, he was denied access to it by members of the Uganda Nurses and Midwives Union who claimed its ownership.

    They told him that Mpuugu fraudulently forged their land title and efforts to recover his money were fruitless as she kept on deceiving him that she was sorting out the matter with the Nurses until he lost hope and decided to drag her to the police.

     

    By Grapevine Reporter

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