Uganda:
No Military Burial Planned for Maj. Itongwa
Renegade UPDF officer and former rebel leader Herbert Itongwa will not be accorded military honours at his burial, a senior presidential advisor on security has said.
Gen. Salim Saleh said Itongwa, who passed away in Denmark on Friday night, will not be accorded a burial given to military officers because he deserted the army and launched a rebellion against the Government.
Akandwanaho explained that it was also unlikely that the Government will facilitate the transportation of Itongwa's remains from Denmark as requested by the family.
"He (Itongwa) was a good fighter, but in mid 1990s, he was imprisoned for indiscipline and when he came out, he made a wrong choice to fight the Government," he added.
Itongwa, who was part of NRA fighters that brought President Yoweri Museveni into power in 1986, fled Uganda in 1995 and later sought assylum in Denmark after his Uganda National Democratic Alliance rebel group, which was mainly operating in central Uganda, was defeated. He was given political asylum in Denmark in 1999.
His rebel group was accused of having been behind the killings of southwestern regional Police commander, Erisa Karakire and his driver Samwiri Kakonge, as well as the kidnapping of the then health minister, James Makumbi. Makumbi was later released unharmed.
Itongwa whose real name is David Kikomeko Sseddyabane was charged with war crimes in a Danish court in 2004 following his arrest a year before in Denmark.
The court acquitted him of murder after it failed to find substantial evidence that the axe he was found with was the murder weapon that killed the Police chief and his driver. He was only convicted for robbery.
Itongwa was later diagnosed with schizophrenia and chronic paranoia by the medico-legal council of Denmark and was sentenced to indefinite treatment at a psychiatric hospital.
Court rejected the prosecution's demand that Itongwa be expelled from Denmark because the country does not expel persons to countries with death penalty.
Itongwa's prosecution was in line with the Geneva Conventions, which calls for countries to prosecute war criminals.
The Danish Special International Crimes Office, responsible for prosecuting serious crimes committed abroad by people residing in Denmark, collected several testimonies from Uganda.
His mother, Angelina Ssedyabane said that she learnt about her son's death through her daughter who lives in Denmark.
"My son has died, I am in great pain because I had not seen him for many years and I don't know how I will get the body," 70-year old Ssedyabane said on phone.
She said she has been living with Itwongwa's four children at her home in Nabweru, Wakiso district since her son, fled the country.
Source: http://allafrica.com
No Military Burial Planned for Maj. Itongwa
Renegade UPDF officer and former rebel leader Herbert Itongwa will not be accorded military honours at his burial, a senior presidential advisor on security has said.
Gen. Salim Saleh said Itongwa, who passed away in Denmark on Friday night, will not be accorded a burial given to military officers because he deserted the army and launched a rebellion against the Government.
Akandwanaho explained that it was also unlikely that the Government will facilitate the transportation of Itongwa's remains from Denmark as requested by the family.
"He (Itongwa) was a good fighter, but in mid 1990s, he was imprisoned for indiscipline and when he came out, he made a wrong choice to fight the Government," he added.
Itongwa, who was part of NRA fighters that brought President Yoweri Museveni into power in 1986, fled Uganda in 1995 and later sought assylum in Denmark after his Uganda National Democratic Alliance rebel group, which was mainly operating in central Uganda, was defeated. He was given political asylum in Denmark in 1999.
His rebel group was accused of having been behind the killings of southwestern regional Police commander, Erisa Karakire and his driver Samwiri Kakonge, as well as the kidnapping of the then health minister, James Makumbi. Makumbi was later released unharmed.
Itongwa whose real name is David Kikomeko Sseddyabane was charged with war crimes in a Danish court in 2004 following his arrest a year before in Denmark.
The court acquitted him of murder after it failed to find substantial evidence that the axe he was found with was the murder weapon that killed the Police chief and his driver. He was only convicted for robbery.
Itongwa was later diagnosed with schizophrenia and chronic paranoia by the medico-legal council of Denmark and was sentenced to indefinite treatment at a psychiatric hospital.
Court rejected the prosecution's demand that Itongwa be expelled from Denmark because the country does not expel persons to countries with death penalty.
Itongwa's prosecution was in line with the Geneva Conventions, which calls for countries to prosecute war criminals.
The Danish Special International Crimes Office, responsible for prosecuting serious crimes committed abroad by people residing in Denmark, collected several testimonies from Uganda.
His mother, Angelina Ssedyabane said that she learnt about her son's death through her daughter who lives in Denmark.
"My son has died, I am in great pain because I had not seen him for many years and I don't know how I will get the body," 70-year old Ssedyabane said on phone.
She said she has been living with Itwongwa's four children at her home in Nabweru, Wakiso district since her son, fled the country.
Source: http://allafrica.com
