Kampala — GULU district chairman Norbert Mao has questions to answer, army spokesperson Maj. Felix Kulayigye has said.

Kulayigye added that Mao will be summoned for questioning for having known about a new rebel group and and not reporting it to the authorities.

"He has some explaining to do since he had the information in his possession but kept quiet. He will be asked to make a statement," Kulayigye said. He, however, said Mao, who returned from the UK on Tuesday, would not be arrested.

The fact that Mao, a senior politician, was aware of the rebel outfit and did not report it, gives credence to suspicion of his involvement. Mao in his column 'Letter from Gulu' in The New Vision on Tuesday admitted that he was aware of the group, called the Uganda People's Front (UPF), formed by Acholi in the diaspora to topple the Government. He said he got to know about the plan in early 2008 from a student in the UK and got their detailed document copied on his memory stick.

Mao said he forgot his memory stick in a computer at Sheraton Hotel business centre in April, which ended up in the hands of security.

But he denies any involvement in the plan. During a talk-show hosted by Radio Mega yesterday, Mao said he considered it a small issue "compared to many other issues he handles".

Gulu RDC Walter Ochora, who was also a guest on the show, said the Acholi Paramount Chief, Rwot Acana II, was planning to call prominent Acholi to a meeting to discuss the army claims.

Ochora on Monday told a local paper that the district security committee he chairs, and of which Mao is a member, had never discussed the rebel group because no one reported such information.

Minister Okello Oryem, who hails from the region, said he was aware of other rebel groups which were mentioned during the Juba peace talks but only got to know about UPF in the papers.

"For this particular group, I read about it in the papers for the first time. But the issue of other groups came up during the Juba peace talks," said Oryem.

"Apparently, Mao did not share it with anybody," commented Okello Okello, the chairman of the Acholi Parliamentary Group.

By press time yesterday, Acholi MPs were still in a closed-door meeting to discuss the allegations.

Meanwhile, the Rwot yesterday denounced any plans of starting a fresh rebellion against the Government.

In a statement, he warned that no more rebel activity would be tolerated in the region.

The Acholi region bore the brunt of a 20-year-long insurgency, he noted.

"Anybody who picks a gun or starts war again in Acholi land will not be tolerated and palace elders will curse such a person," he said.

The chief of intelligence agencies, Gen David Tinyefuza, is said to be camped in Gulu to get to the root of the alleged new rebellion.

Eleven people have been charged over the issue. If summoned, Mao could face charges of concealment of treason.