Frank Mugabi
16 March 2008
Kampala — THE army has called on former combatants in the West Nile region to surrender military weapons in their possession.
Capt. Robert Kamara, the regional UPDF spokesman, said they had evidence that former soldiers had guns hidden in discreet arms banks.
"There were various rebel groups that signed peace agreements with the Government and declared their arms. But we believe that some of them did not have the opportunity to surrender them. It is time to do so," Kamara said.
Addressing journalists at Yumbe army detachment, he displayed the cache of illegal arms that were recovered between March 5 and 10. It included 20 submachine guns, three PK guns, one RPG pipe, 48 tortoise grenades, four antitank mines, 52 anti-personnel mines and over 2,000 bullets.
The items were found in grass-thatched huts in Acholi, Kisumu and Alelinija villages in Kuru and Apo sub-counties.
They were stuffed in plastic jerricans and wrapped in polythene papers.
The mines and fuses had Arabic inscriptions on them.
This was the second massive recovery in just eight months.
In September last year, Capt. Paul Muwonge steered an operation in which 24 anti-personnel fuses, 12 anti personnel mines, two anti-tank mines, two motor vehicle mines and four anti-tank fuses were recovered.
The UPDF 409 Brigade Commander, Lt. Col. Hassan Kimbowa, commended the residents for providing information about the suspected arms banks.
Kimbowa said the West Nile region was a major transit route for small arms trafficking because it borders volatile areas in South Sudan and the Democratic republic of Congo.
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