MUSEVENI: ADF now have nowhere to hide

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has implored fighters belonging to the rebel Allied Democratic Forces-ADF to surrender or get killed.

Speaking Tuesday evening at State House Nakasero, Museveni said the Uganda People’s Défense Forces-UPDF has now got capacity to look for ADF rebels wherever they are.

Museveni said that now that the current government of the Democratic Republic of Congo led by President Felix Tshishekedi allowed UPDF to carryout operations in Congo, the rebels will have nowhere to hide.

“I’m telling you wherever you are, we shall get them, we have been getting information about them. We even know their names; we are looking for them. There is no chance of these people surviving; maybe they didn’t know the capacity of the UPDF, there is no where we can’t reach. The only option is for these people to surrender, get out there and either surrender to the Congo army or to our units,  which are there or even the UN but get out or you will die,” Museveni said.

The President assured the country that there is no security threat that can’t be dealt with. He said all Ugandans need to do is to be vigilant and report any threats to the nearest security forces for quick action.

“I want to assure Ugandans that please just be vigilant because when you are vigilant, the criminals have signs; connect with the security forces the rest will be easy. If you have blood pressure, go for treatment and don’t get a heart attack of security; there will be no insecurity in Uganda; be vigilant the rest will be very easy,” Museveni said.

The president gave account of all the cases of insecurity that have gripped the country in the recent past. He said most of those who have been involved in attacks on security forces have either been killed or are in jail awaiting their time in court.

On the recent incursion of suspected ADF rebels in Ntoroko district, Museveni said of the 40 fighters who are said to have crossed to Uganda, 21 were killed while 15 were captured alive. He said with their operations in Congo, the ADF will not have anywhere to hide therefore; it should brace its self for destruction.

ADF was created in the early 1990 as a rebel organisation intent on deposing President Yoweri Museveni. It carried out attacks in different parts of the country. However, it was pushed out of the country into the jungles of DRC where it operated without ever attacking Uganda.

In fact, the President in the past has prided in defeating ADF especially after the capture of its alleged commander Jamil Mukulu in 2015 who is currently on remand at Luzira prisons.

However since 2012, when the killings of prominent Muslim clerics started, the government started citing ADF in all these attacks culminating in the 2021 bombings in Kampala, which government used as pretext to launch operations in Congo.

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