3 ADF Suspects Charged With Treachery By General Court Martial

Three alleged Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels have been charged and remanded by the General Court Martial (CGM) in Makindye, Kampala.

Leaus Masereka, also known as Faisiale, a 31-year-old resident of Bwera in the Kasese district, Hamid Tuke, a 23-year-old resident of Masumbi village in the Mayuge district, and Musa Asuman Abib Othieno, a 23-year-old resident of Busia, were brought before the court and accused of participating in armed conflict on behalf of the ADF rebel group.

The three were accused of betraying the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces in violation of Section 129(a) of the 2005 Act.

Brig. Gen. Freeman Robert Mugabe, the head of the CGM, read the offense to them, but they all refuted the allegations made.

However, the trio protested to being tried, telling the court that they turned themselves in to the police after President Yoweri Museveni announced amnesty for rebels who turned themselves in from the jungle. This was done through the representation of Capt. Simon Nsubuga Busagwa, their attorney.

Busagwa continued by asking the court to stop the accused’s trial, “Chairman and honourable court, it’s unfair to try the accused persons because they complied with the presidential request.”

Along with Pte Regina Nanzala, Pte Anthony Olupot, Lt Col Rapheal Mugisha, and Lt Alex Mukwana, they served as the prosecution’s leaders.

Between November 2020 and April 2023, it is alleged that the defendant and other suspects who remain at large joined, trained in, and actively took part in ADF operations on behalf of a rebel group actively engaged in war or warlike activities against the Ugandan government.

As investigations are still ongoing, the court remanded them to up until September 25 for mention of their case.