Last week, I read an article that was published in the Daily Monitor newspaper as usual. The article was authored by Phillip Matogo, a regular guest contributor with this notorious newspaper.
In his article, Matogo claimed Intelligence Officers are profiteering from terrorism, something which according to his assertion seems to be hampering the fight against terrorism.
He further stated that in a mafia nation like Uganda, Intelligence gathering is an opportunity for extortion and racketeering.
“How can you expect this government to successfully fight terrorism when its own operatives are making profit from it? “Matogo sarcastically asked this question.
Picking from this question;
First, I would like Matogo to present credible evidences to this claim unless he is also part of the “so called operatives profiteering from terrorism or he is in the know of either his friend or relative who is a rogue Intelligence operative profiting from terrorism as he said.
Does he have evidence of the said profiteering by the so called security operatives?
Has he ever served in Mafioso intelligence service where he learnt this or he studied it at school, where does he get all this experience.
I must state it that Matogo loves movies of magicians and fictions and is trying to transfer what he probably watched on screen to a paper and tie it on security operatives that they work as Mafioso.
It’s also misleading to present a blanket claim blackmailing the entire Intelligence Units of profiting from terrorism, I would of course agree with Matogo slightly if he had named and listed the corrupt and irresponsible operatives behind this ghost trade, otherwise his arguments remain a mere slander and blackmail.
Our intelligence services have truly fought terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, for whatever purpose by whomsoever because terrorism can never be justified under any context.
In this fight against terrorism, security and intelligence services have always been prepared and at time forced to take hard decisions, including assigning a comprehensive definition of terrorism. This is a minimum requirement seeking to isolate terrorism; and thus, differentiate it from other legitimate struggles.
On July 11, 2010, during the World Soccer Championship in Kampala, Al
Shabaab terrorists launched a suicide terrorist attacks. During the attack, several people were killed including 60 Ugandans, nine Ethiopians, one Irish woman, and one Asian; some 85 were wounded.
This was an eye opener for our intelligence services who swung into action and arrested 12 individuals in days following the attacks.
These were seven Kenyans, five Ugandans, and one Tanzanian and were each charged with terrorism, murder, attempted murder, and of being accessories to terrorism.
Kenyans Hussein Hassan Agad, Idris Magondu, Habib Suleiman Njoroge, and Muhammed Ali Muhamed were sentenced to life imprisonment. The other two, Ugandan Hassan Haruna Luyima and Tanzanian Suleiman Hajjir Nyamandondo, were sentenced to 50 years imprisonment.
Five of the suspects were acquitted (Kenyan Yahya Suleiman Mbuthia, Kenyan Muhammed Hamid Suleiman, Kenyan Mohammed Awadh, Ugandan Abubakari Batemetyo, Ismail Kalule) and Muzafaru Luyima.
Justice would not be served without intelligence services to bring out evidence for prosecution.
Since the last terrorist attack on Uganda in 2010, Al Shaabab has
made several attempts to launch more attacks, but they have not realized their plans because intelligence services have managed to keep them at bay.
Similarly, while the Congo -based ADF extremists continue to operate active cells in Uganda, they, too, have not succeeded in launching combat operations in the country because of our eagle eyed intelligence services keep watchful eye.
Even when they managed to sneak into the country and detonate 3 bombs in Kampala, intelligence services has been able to respond very quickly and arrest a number of them from across the country.
The Security Agencies from the Joint Anti-terrorism Unit, the Joint Intelligence Components of CMI, CI and ISO, CID, conducted several intelligence led operations, that led to the arrest of over 60 terror suspects, highly linked to the acts of terror in the country.
These involved single individuals, those operating in small cells that have been broken and others on various activities of terrorism.
This year alone, the joint intelligence components have managed to foil over 150 terror attacks which would have been devastating national disasters had it not been for strong intelligence services.
Since the deadly suicide attacks that occurred at CPS and Parliament Avenue, intelligence services for example managed to arrest Isma Kiyemba, a 24-year-old, suspected terrorist and member of the ADF terror cell in Lweeza, where they recovered an assortment of terror related exhibits.
Additionally, on the 2.12.2021, task teams, tracked down and arrested Twaha Ssegujja aka Kisembo Joseph, a 37 resident of Nakuwadde village, Nakabugo Parish in Wakiso district.
Intelligence conducted search at Ssegujja’s shop where they found a hidden store, with an assortment of weapons and bomb making materials. The items recovered included; an AK 47 Riffle, that had no magazine, a silver grenade bomb concealed in a laptop bag, 9 pairs of green gumboots, 5 airtel lines and two Itel phones, 389 detonating roads, 3 suspected explosive boosters, 2 bags of ammonium nitrate, packed in sugar sacks and 7 tins of chemical fluids, among others.
There are many other suspects arrested in the ongoing operations but Matogo chooses to be blind about these achievements.
If our intelligence services were extortionists like Matogo a son of late Ben Matogo a former Anti Obote group representative in London wants to hoodwink Ugandans, the defense forces wouldn’t have also managed to defeat the 27 rebel groups like LRA under Joseph Kony, Uganda National Liberation Front, Save Uganda Movement, Uganda Muslim Liberation Army, National Army for the Liberation of Uganda, Holy Spirit Movement among others.
All this has been achieved because our Intelligence services perform an essential security function by providing government with timely and relevant information necessary to protect the security of the state and its citizens.
Matogo is so naïve and not worth talking about intelligence services in Uganda because it’s a topic beyond his cognitive capacity.
One would wonder the editorial policy of the Daily Monitor for accepting to become the channel for such malicious propaganda against the state.
The Attorney General should look into this ongoing malicious propaganda against state coordinated by the Daily Monitor, why is he quiet? The minister of ICT has failed to come out and guide the nation and put Daily Monitor to order or he is conniving with the enemy?
Are Ugandan laws so naïve that they can’t act against these nasty propaganda sponsored by the enemies of state?
It is also very unfortunate that government still funds its enemy Daily Monitor unknowingly by giving it multi million adverts and supplements through Sachi and Sachi. This is the government money which Daily Monitor uses to fund toxic columnists the likes of Matongo who are hell bent on seeing the fall of the same government.
