Uganda’s renegade army general, David Sejusa, is seeking to be discharged from the army, following his return from exile on Sunday, according to his attorney, Ladislaus Rwakafuuzi.
“He has told me that he wants to be discharged from the army so that he is a civilian, so he is free to do what a civilian does,” said Rwakafuuzi. Until he went into exile, General Sejusa was coordinator for Uganda’s intelligence agencies at the president’s office.
He went into exile after demanding an investigation into an assassination plot linked to President Yoweri Museveni’s alleged succession plan, under which the president would step down and hand over power to his son Brigadier Muhoozi Kainerugaba.
Sejusa petitioned the administration to investigate rumors of a plot to assassinate senior administration officials opposed to the plan.
The army rejected Sejusa’s claims and accused him of breaching an official code of conduct. He was also accused of leaking his petition to the press after a newspaper published the contents of the letter demanding the inquiry.
Senior administration officials accused Sejusa of harboring presidential ambitions and spreading rumors to create divisions within the army. Attorney Rwakafuuzi says the government has yet to officially press charges against Sejusa.
“There is no pending charge in any court of law in Uganda against him. And that could largely mean that they will not charge him because they have had the whole year to do so. They could have extradited him from the UK if they had wanted [and] if they were any pending charges in Uganda, but they didn't,” said Rwakafuuzi.
“There were those overzealous people who made all sorts of statements, we shall arrest him, [and] we shall take him to court. All these things were said but, nothing in writing,” he said.
Some security analysts said Sejusa’s decision to go into exile was the right move for his safety, but expressed surprise about his return home.
Attorney Rwakafuuzi said the government will protect his client. “This morning the president of Uganda has been trying to get him security and actually asked him to choose his own people who would give him security,” said Rwakafuuzi.
