ugnet_: UGANDA'S CHIEF MILITARY INTELLIGENCY THREATENS UN

[Mulindwa Edward]

Mayombo promises action against UN By Richard M. Kavuma Chief of Military Intelligence Col. Nobel Mayombo has said he is considering taking action against the United Nations for tarnishing his name. Mayombo, one of the Ugandan army officers facing a travel ban and financial restrictions over alleged plundering of Congo's natural resources, said the five-member UN panel used forged documents to implicate him. "I am studying how individuals can respond when they are persistently defamed especially by a body that is supposed to be of international repute," Mayombo told a Ministry of Foreign Affairs press conference at Workers House in Kampala yesterday. "My public record is known and it is beyond reproach," Mayombo said. Government would wait for the report of the Porter Probe before commenting on allegations against specific UPDF officers, said James Wapakhabulo, the minister of Foreign Affairs. Army Commander Maj. Gen. James Kazini, Reserve Force Commander Lt. Gen. Salim Saleh are among the officers allegedly involved in 'criminal networks' of plunder and tax evasion in war-torn eastern Congo. In May 2001 government established a commission of inquiry under Justice Porter to find out whether Ugandan army officers plundered the Congo. This was at the recommendation of the UN panel in its first report. Wapakhabulo, who also is third deputy prime minister, said Uganda was the only country in the region to take up the UN's advice. He said the report had several positive aspects such as recognising that the Uganda government was not involved in plundering the Congo. He said where nationals or companies of countries such as Rwanda and Zimbabwe were mentioned, the state also often surfaced. Wapakhabulo, however, generally dismissed the report, accusing the panel of relying on hearsay. He gave the example of the Protocol d'Accord allegedly signed by Mayombo in which UPDF was promised $25,000. "That is an insult to the UPDF, to say that we can keep a whole battalion in an area for just $ 25,000," Wapakhabulo said.        The Mulindwas communication group "With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in anarchy"