Gen Kainerugaba announces Operation Kisasi, says suspects will not go to court

The Chief of Defence Forces Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba has announced an operation against suspected murderers, robbers and rapists, saying security forces will bypass courts when dealing with them.

In posts on X on October 17, 2026, Muhoozi said the campaign, dubbed “Operation Kisasi”, had begun.

“We have launched ‘Operation Kisasi’ against criminals in the country. It will not end until we finish them,” he wrote.

In another post, Muhoozi compared the planned crackdown to the military campaign against the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).

“We are going to start a special operation against the killers/robbers/rapists of innocent citizens in Uganda. We won’t waste time taking them to court. We will deal with them like we did LRA,” he said.

He also described the campaign as “Operation Sasi ku Nyama”, a Luganda phrase meaning “bullet to flesh”. He said it would target murderers, thieves and rapists.

His reference to the LRA invokes the army’s campaign against Joseph Kony’s rebel group, which waged a two-decade insurgency in northern Uganda. The conflict involved killings, abductions and other atrocities against civilians.

That campaign also led to prosecutions. In August 2024, Uganda’s High Court convicted former LRA commander Thomas Kwoyelo of 44 offences, including murder, rape and kidnapping. His case marked the first prosecution of a senior LRA commander before Uganda’s courts.