The scandals that have dogged Col Kaka Bagyenda’s three-year reign at the Internal Security Organisation (ISO) prompted the President to relieve him of his duties, reports show.
President Museveni sacked Bagyenda and replaced him with Lt Col Charles Oluka. Bagyenda’s deputy, Don Mugimba has also been replaced with Lt Emmy Katabazi.
Allegations of torture, human rights abuses, arbitrary arrests and internal fights among ISO agents have taken precedence, putting the country’s security at risk something that could have prompted the President to sack the Col Bagyenda.
Before his appointment in 2017 to take over from Brig Ronnie Balya, Col Kaka had been a businessman running several hotels across the country.
When he took over intelligence in 2017, he was seen as the saviour and was credited for doing reconnaissance and gathering intelligence that helped thwart internal rebellion in the army and government.
However, his honeymoon was soon over as most of the so-called intelligence turned out to be false.
Multiple sources say ISO has authored some controversial reports that accused military big shots of working against President Museveni. Some of these reports, sources said, have been found fake. For instance, Kaka’s most trusted operative, Simon Peter Odongo, who was the head of ISO’s ICT Department, was accused of framing the former Inspector General of Police Kale Kayihura on the killing of Andrew Felix Kaweesi. The joint security investigation into the death of Kaweesi found out that the information that ISO shared about Gen Kayihura was false.
ISO operatives were accused of carrying out human right abuse including arbitrary arrests of people and detaining them at an island in Lake Victoria for months. In 2019, lawyers under their umbrella body, the Uganda Law Society (ULS) accused Kaka of arresting, detaining and torturing citizens and usurping the powers of other security agencies and acting outside the law.
During a media conference, then ULS president Simon Peter Kinobe said Kaka had taken over the role of other security agencies and turned ISO into a clearing agency for wealthy individuals to the detriment of regular citizens.
The raid by Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI) on several ISO safe houses in Kampala in July surprised many but also signalled that Kaka had a big fight for survival on his hands with higher forces probably fed up or rattled by his methods of work.
In July 2020, personnel from Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence raided several safe houses in the city centre where ISO detained suspects and arrested the guards before taking away people detained in the houses.
The raid came after President Museveni summoned ISO director general Col Kaka Bagyenda for a meeting at State House. Col Kaka later failed to come to the office the following day, sparking speculation that he had been fired. At the time of the raid, there had been tension at ISO headquarters after more than 100 operatives, including 10 directors, were suspended.
It is these circumstances that have been at ISO until Thursday’s sacking.
Credit – PML Daily