PARLIAMENT- The government yesterday told Parliament that it intercepted nine suspected letter bombs that had been addressed to, among other public figures, President Museveni, his brother-in-law, Sam Kutesa and former FDC president Kizza Besigye.
Other targets of the alleged letter bombs were Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago and UPC leader Olara Otunnu. But yesterday’s revelation seems to have also opened up the government to accusations that it has turned the matter, first reported involving only the Speaker, into something of a joke.
When contacted yesterday, Mr Lukwago said: “I have just read the allegations on Internet but sounds like a Fools Day story. If it’s not a prank, government owes us a duty to furnish [us with] the details; the people behind it and their motive.”
Source of letters
Junior Internal Affairs Minister James Baba told the House that the alleged parcels came from P.O Box 7007, 3109AA Schiedem (sic). He was presenting a statement on the alleged letter bomb to Speaker Rebecca Kadaga.
According to Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia, Schiedam is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. The city is located west of Rotterdam, east of Vlaardingen, and south of Delft.
Mr Baba said the letters addressed to President Museveni and Ms Kadaga “did not contain any materials harmful to human life and they also did not contain explosives, nor radiation, biological, chemical or microbial materials commonly used in terrorism”.
However, he said the letters “exhibit traces of the volatile organic compounds more likely to have come from ink and other substances used in the print industry”.
He said the President’s letter and other letters, excluding that of Kadaga, were picked by police from the Post Office.
The government said there was no physical trauma found on Kadaga’s aide Harman Kaboggoza, who was reported to have been hurt in the process of opening the letter.
Mr Baba, however, said Kaboggoza went to two hospitals to examine his blood but he was told they didn’t have facilities. He was instead given tablets just in case and upon consulting other doctors, he was recommended for a blood test in Nairobi Hospital.
Last month, when the media reported about a letter bomb to Kadaga, the government’s Media Centre boss, Mr Ofwono Opondo, dismissed the letter bomb incident as “trash” and cheap politicking.
Even though the Police spokesperson, Ms Judith Nabakooba, denied that anything has recently occurred to place Ms Kadaga’s life in danger, the Speaker affirmed that an investigation is currently ongoing at police to trace the source of the letter.
Role of the police
“Immediately the incident [at the Speaker’s office] happened, police took steps to identify the origin of the parcels. They went to the Post Office for more information. At the Post Office, they were informed of similar packages addressed to nine other people, including one sent to the President. Upon receipt of consent from the Special Forces Command, the one that was addressed to the President was tested alongside the one that had been addressed to the Speaker,” Mr Baba said.
In Parliament yesterday, Opposition Chief Whip Cecilia Ogwal and other members questioned the authenticity of the extra parcels and raised doubts about the government’s explanation. At first, Mr Baba had refused to name all the people who might have received the suspected letter bombs.
However, after members pressed hard, he read through the police report on the incident.
Mr Baba said other parcels are being kept at the Government Analytical Laboratory pending the outcome of the ongoing investigation, as a security measure and so as to get the consent of the addressees.
Other people who were meant to receive the alleged letter bombs are Ms Barbara Kaija, the Editor-in-Chief of Vision Group, Mr Peter Christopher Werikhe, of Kampala and Paul Kihika.
But Kalungu West Member of Parliament Mr Ssewungu said the report is not convincing.
“You have just told us that the counter terrorism unit and the parliamentary police took the package to the Government Analytical Laboratory for analysis. This came after the completion of a report by the police! I am not contented with this. Go and prepare another one,” said Mr Ssewungu.
