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Gen. Kayihura was accused of failing to protect war materiel by issuing arms to unauthorised persons along with aiding and abetting the kidnapping and repatriating of Rwandan exiles and refugees as well as Ugandan citizens to Rwanda between 2012 and 2016.
The Commander of Land Forces Lt. Gen. Kainerugaba Muhoozi recently requested the Commander in Chief of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces President Yoweri Museveni to pardon Kayihura.
The former IGP is a bemedaled senior officer who played a key role in bringing President Museveni to power during the bush war between 1981 and 1985.
In spite of his celebrated military record, Kayihura has been pushed to the margins of the nation’s consciousness after being dropped and arrested on June 13, 2018.
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He was subsequently held at Makindye Military Police Barracks for more than two months until he was charged on August 24, the same year.
The 66-year-old Gen. Kayihura is currently living under quasi-house arrest at his farm in Kashagama, Lyantonde district.
“I appreciate Gen. Kainerugaba’s efforts. He is an angel to me,” Gen. Kayihura said.
The feeling seems to be mutual as Gen. Kainerugaba praised Gen. Kayihura to the rooftops when he made his appeal for him to be pardoned.
“Gen. Kayihura was one of those special cadres in the early 1990s who inspired us to serve our nation. Others were late Generals Mayombo and Kazini. If he made mistakes, let us use revolutionary methods to rectify them. I request the Commander-in-Chief to forgive and rehabilitate him,” Gen. Kainerugaba said.
As he awaits what the Commander-in-Chief and General Court Martial (GCM) will decide, Gen. Kayihura said he was returning legal practice, he has a Master’s Degree in Law from the University of London but he abandoned this profession in 1982 to join the bush war which brought the National Resistance Movement (NRM) to power.
If Gen. Kayihura, who has been accused of several human rights abuses, is “rehabilitated”, his return is sure to strike fear into the hearts of those who oppose the NRM.