Deputy Chief of Defence Forces Lt. Gen. Sam Okiding has explained how security agencies launched investigations into alleged rebel recruitment in the Teso sub-region, why retired Lt. Gen. Peter Elwelu became a person of interest and how they eventually traced him on the orders of President Yoweri Museveni.
Speaking on Etop Radio in Soroti City on Saturday evening, Okiding said the investigation began between August and September after intelligence reports indicated that youths in Kapelebyong District were being mobilised with promises of jobs in cement factories in Soroti and Moroto.
Okiding said he travelled to Kapelebyong to establish the truth after residents raised concerns about their children being recruited for what they believed were employment opportunities.
However, security agencies became suspicious when they discovered that the youths had been taken to Kumi District instead of the areas where they had reportedly been promised jobs.
“We became suspicious because Soroti has no cement factory, and the direction in which the youths were taken was different from Moroto. So, I went to a church in Omatenga, where the youths had been taken,” he said.
The church, identified as Ammi in Omatenga Parish, Kumi District, is headed by Rev. Lazarus Odwan. According to Okiding, the church leadership confirmed that 84 youths had been accommodated there but explained that Pastor Stephen Okaal had introduced them as his visitors.
Security officers arrested Okaal and some of the youths to establish the real purpose of their mobilisation.
During questioning, the youths reportedly told investigators that they had been promised a monthly salary of Shs1.8 million, a lunch allowance of Shs15,000 and Shs10,000 for supper.
Okiding said security officers were also surprised to find that most of the youths had no formal education, while those who had attended school had reportedly dropped out in Primary Six.
It was during the investigations that Elwelu’s name emerged. Okiding said intelligence gathered from the people in custody implicated the retired general and another individual in the alleged recruitment.
He said Museveni subsequently directed him to contact Elwelu and have him explain his alleged involvement.
Okiding, however, said reaching the former Deputy Chief of Defence Forces was difficult because his known telephone numbers were switched off.
He decided to visit Elwelu’s home, but did not find him there. His wife reportedly told the officers that he had left home for prayers about two weeks earlier.
Okiding said he spent two weeks in Teso trying to establish Elwelu’s whereabouts, including contacting some of his friends. He also sought information from presidential adviser on Teso affairs Charles Elasu, who reportedly said he had not heard from the retired general for some time.
The search eventually paid off when security officers used their networks within Elwelu’s church community to locate him.
“Through our networks with some members of his church, we got him and he accepted to meet us. I went and found him and informed him that I had been sent by the President,” Okiding said.
He added that senior intelligence officers, including Maj. Gen. Richard Otto and Maj. Gen. Christopher Damulira, were also in Teso conducting investigations and later joined him when Elwelu was found.
Okiding said Elwelu welcomed the officers and told them that he had previously attempted to contact Maj. Gen. Otto, but his calls had not been answered.
After meeting him, Okiding said he took Elwelu from the place where he had been paying for accommodation and offered him a place to spend the night at his residence.
The Deputy CDF said Elwelu was yet to meet Museveni, who is expected to hear his side of the story and allow him to respond to the allegations. He did not reveal when the meeting would take place.
Okiding also confirmed that all the youths arrested during the investigations had since been released. However, Okaal and a few other suspects, whose identities were not disclosed, remained in security custody.
