Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesman Patrick Onyango confirmed the seizure of the documents and the arrest of the two people to help them with investigations.

“It is true. The documents were seized at Entebbe International Airport by security personnell as they were destined for South Africa. They [security personnell established that they originated from Muyenga, so they visited the place.

Kabalagala Police Station has opened a general inquiry file to establish how a German national came into possession of those documents,” SSP Onyango said on September 26. Mr Onyango said the two suspects were released on police bond as investigations continue.

A source, who preferred anonymity due to security reasons, told Daily Monitor that the documents were seized by officers attached to Defence Intelligence and Security (formerly Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence) on August 29 as they were being shipped to Thabo Mbeki Foundation in South Africa. The foundation was started in 2010 by Mr Thabo Mbeki, a former South African president, “to preserve and promote the history and heritage of the African people, as well as to foster dialogue and cooperation among Africans and other global actors.”

Uganda security agencies have seized archives of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army leader, Late Dr John Garang, that were allegedly being shipped out of the country through Entebbe International Airport.

After seizing Dr Garang’s personal archives, the security agencies also raided the home where the archives reportedly originated from and arrested two people, including a British-German national and a Ugandan, at Muyenga-Bukasa in Makindye Division, Kampala City.

“The investigations are still in the initial stages. Our teams are still examining the recovered documents to establish a range of suspected criminality. Once our teams are done with the investigations, we shall inform all the parties, including the suspects and the Office of the Public Prosecutions as per the law,” Mr Onyango said. Dr Garang, renowned for fighting for the independence of South Sudan, died after a Ugandan presidential helicopter on which he was aboard crashed on July 30, 2005. He had just met the Ugandan President, Mr Museveni, at his village home in Rwakitura in western Uganda.

After seizing the documents, the security personnel followed where they were sent from, in Muyenga, leading to the arrest of a British-German national and a Ugandan, who were residents there. The security personnel searched the home and also seized all their electronic equipment, including mobile phones and laptops. The passport of the British-German national was also seized by the security personnel. We also understand that the duo was detained in a security facility overnight. Both were released after they declined to record statements without the presence of their lawyers.

However, Garang’s son intervenes, and Said the archives were in possession of Dr Garang’s son, Mr Mabior Garang, until 2013, when he left Uganda to participate in the Addis Peace negotiations to end war in South Sudan. Mr Mabior entrusted the documents to a custodian, who kept them until it was decided that they should be handed over to Thabo Mbeki Foundation. The security agents were not satisfied with the suspects’ explanation.

They allegedly ordered the suspects to hand over the passwords of their electronic devices for a forensic search and to quicken the investigations and their release.

The suspects accepted. The duo was released again and the security team promised to return their electronic devices and other personal items once investigations were done. However, the duo’s property was not returned. This, we understand, prompted the intervention of Mr Mabior. On September 16, Mr Mabior reached out to the Defence Intelligence and Security Deputy Commander, Brig Abdul Rugumayo, to help the duo recover their items.

Although Brig Rugumayo told Mr Mabior that he would help to resolve the matter, he didn’t follow up. Sources said the seizure of the British-German’s passport has left her stranded in Uganda.

| UG Daily Monitor reports |