Writes Leo Odera Omolo
UGANDA is to deport several Pakistanis who were arrested but released in connection with the July 11 suicide attacks which killed 76 people.
State minister for internal affairs Matia Kasaija yesterday said the Pakistanis’ documents were also wanting.
“We will deport them on the next plane to Pakistan,” Kasaija said.
He said although the suspects had been cleared of involvement in the attacks which Somali-based militants al-Shabaab claimed, they were still being held by Immigration over improper documents. Sources said at least eight Pakistanis will be deported.
Kasaija admitted that the delay to deport the group was partly caused by financial constraints. Money, he said, is needed to purchase air tickets for both the suspects and the officers escorting them.
Security last week released 20 suspects arrested in connection with the bomb attacks, among them eight Pakistanis, five Ugandans and a Somali, after detectives cleared them of involvement.
The Pakistanis had earlier been
arrested from the eastern town of Pallisa. But the permanent secretary in the ministry, Dr. Stephen Kagoda, yesterday said the suspects had not yet been handed over to them.
More interrogations
Meanwhile, top-notch anti-terror officials yesterday interrogated several suspects at a city Police station amid tight security. Senior officers from the Criminal Investigations Directorate participated, and the process ran from morning till late afternoon, the sources said.
Details about the suspects and their number were not available, though the sources said some were foreigners from the Middle East.
Government yet to meet pledge
Meanwhile, the Government is yet to meet its pledge to help victims of the bomb blasts. However, Kasaija said progress had been made towards meeting the promise.
Funds for the purpose, he said, had been secured by the Office of the Prime Minister and would be channeled to the victims through the internal affairs ministry.
“We are just waiting for action from the Office of the Prime Minister and we begin visiting the victims. “It will not be long before we start,” he added.
The Government promised sh5m to each family that lost relatives in the attack and sh3m for the treatment of each of the more than 50 people injured.
Father of the suspect speaks out
In another development, the father of Isa Ssenkumba, a prime Ugandan suspect in the attacks, was shocked that his son was involved in terrorism.
He dismissed reports that he had benefited from terror money channeled through the son. Abdallah Muyingo, 45, lives in Makindye Lusaka Zone in Kampala.
Muyingo, who has since remarried after separating with Ssenkumba’s mother, said his son had refused formal education in favour of Islamic education.
The man, who earns a living by ferrying goods on a bicycle, once lived in Kalintunsi Zone on Kafumbe Mukasa Road. He said he was shocked to learn that his son was now called Ali, instead of Isa.
He rubbished reports that his current house in Makindye was built by his son using terrorists’ money. Instead, he argued, he sold his plot in Kalintusi zone and built the 2-room house.
Months ago, he was shocked when his son bought a pool table. The son would disappear from home for long durations, allegedly visiting his mother or on trips to Sudan and Kenya.
Ends