Twenty-four officers from Uganda’s peacekeeping force in Somalia, including its commander, have been summoned back to Kampala on suspicion of involvement in stealing food and fuel in order to sell make money on the black market. The officers have been placed on “open arrest” while investigations into the allegation take place
“(Brigadier Michael) Ondoga and 23 others have been brought back from Somalia,” said Lt. Paddy Ankunda, spokesman for the Uganda People’s Defence Force. “Their travel documents have been withdrawn as investigations into allegations of selling fuel and food in Somalia commence.”
Ugandan troops form the backbone of the African Union’s 18,000-strong peacekeeper mission in Somalia which has spearheaded the offensive against al Qaeda-linked militants in the Horn of Africa country since 2007. It has not been made clear how long the alleged scam had been running, nor how much money had been netted.
The European Union, which pays troops stipends, told Reuters news agency it had “taken note and (was) looking into the allegations”. Uganda’s leading daily, the Daily Monitor, said some Ugandan soldiers had received only one meal a day because of the scam.
In the early 2000s, some top Ugandan army officers were implicated in a “ghost soldiers” scandal in which salaries were drawn for dead or retired soldiers then allegedly stolen. In another high profile scandal, President Yoweri Museveni’s brother was also accused of receiving a large bribe in the purchase of military helicopters that turned out to be junk.
Convictions as a result of internal probes are rare in Uganda’s military.
