Report By Leo Odera Omolo

MUHAMOUD Mugisha, one of the suspects charged with the July 11 Kampala twin bombings, yesterday appeared at Nakawa Magistrates’ Court and recorded an extra-judicial statement.

He recorded his statement before Grade One Magistrate George Obong, after he offered to record an additional statement related to the blasts.

Mugisha, 24, is among the 32 suspects who were charged on August 16 with terrorism, murder and attempted murder at the same court. He is a resident of Kiwunya Zone, Nakulabye, in Rubaga division, but is of Rwandan origin.

The magistrate declined to divulge what Mugisha said in his confession, saying it would be prejudicial and against his work ethics.

But a source said Mugisha confessed to being an “al-Qaeda’s linkman in Uganda”. According to the source, Mugisha confessed that by the time the bombs went off, he was in Luzira Prison, where he had been charged with illegal possession of a Ugandan passport.

He was released on bail on July 29, and arrested a few days later at the Malaba border point on his way to Kenya enroute to Somalia.

The source added that Mugisha said “he is well travelled and has always made frequent trips to Kenya to meet his al-Qaeda superiors.

The source added that Mugisha confessed to being a close friend of Isa Ahmed Luyima, who has since recorded an extra-judicial statement, saying he “smuggled the suicide bomb jackets” into the country. The jackets were assembled in Somalia.

Security was tight at the court and the magistrate’s chambers were sealed off by security personnel for the entire period of the confession.

At least 79 revellers lost their lives in the bomb blasts that went off at Kyadondo Rugby Club in Lugogo and the Ethiopian Village Restaurant in Kabalagala as they watched the 2010 FIFA World Cup final. Somalia’s al-Shabaab militants claimed responsibility for the blasts.

Ends