Uganda's civil war 'hero' accused of rights abuses dies

By Hamza Kyeyune

KAMPALA, Uganda, (AA) – Elly Tumwine, an influential former army general and minister in Uganda, died on Thursday at the age of 68.

He leaves behind a controversial legacy as a key figure in Uganda’s defining civil war in the 1980s who was accused of violence and rights abuses.

He died of lung cancer during treatment in Kenya’s capital Nairobi, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said on Twitter.

Tumwine was a close confidant of the president since 1980, when Museveni started an armed uprising that eventually propelled his National Resistance Movement into power almost 40 years ago.

The ex-general is said to have fired the first bullet that ignited the conflict known in Uganda as the Bush War.

He held top positions in the army and government, including security minister and intelligence chief.

In his Twitter post, Museveni hailed Tumwine as a “dedicated and hard-working cadre,” while Anita Annet Among, speaker of Uganda’s Parliament, called him a “liberation hero.”

Tumwine faced widespread criticism for defending the killing of more than 50 people by security forces during unrest in the capital Kampala after opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi’s arrest in November 2020.

Kyagulanyi, the popstar-turned-lawmaker better known as Bobi Wine, approached the International Criminal Court (ICC) last year for a probe.

He asked the ICC to investigate Museveni, Tumwine and eight senior security officials for incidents going back to 2018, saying they authorized the “widespread use of shoot to kill, beatings and other violence” in Uganda.

In August 2019, Tumwine, serving as the security minister at the time, came under fire from the Parliament’s Committee of Human Rights.

He was accused of “supervising torture and the illegal detention of Ugandans” at various intelligence safe houses across the country.

He admitted that spy agencies were operating safe houses, but denied that they were used to illegally detain or torture people.

Tumwine’s denial was rubbished by lawmakers as he refused to disclose the locations of the safe houses, blocking the committee’s plan for on-site inspections.