Addis Ababa, 30 October 2013 (WIC) - Uganda military spokesman, Lt. Colonel Ankunda, said on Tuesday that at least 40 Ugandan soldiers, including an army brigadier, have been recalled from Somalia and arrested as a Ugandan military panel investigates allegations of involvement in the sale of food and guns while they were deployed as part of the AMISOM forces in Somalia.
According to reports in the Ugandan paper, the Daily Monitor, at a recent meeting with President Museveni, soldiers returning from Somalia raised a number of complaints against their commanders.
The army spokesman said some of those arrested had allegedly sold guns and ammunition on the black market while others had hoarded petrol, even trying to avoid using armored vehicles to save fuel, and endangering the lives of peacekeepers.
Colonel Ankunda said “We take these allegations very seriously: that some officers and men were involved in selling food and fuel, logistics for operations; we can't allow individuals to spoil the bigger mission for the African Union."
He said that an AMISOM former deputy commander, Brigadier General Michael Ondoga, was among those now under "open arrest" in Uganda.
Uganda contributes the largest number of troops to the 17,000 strong AMISOM mission in Somalia.
(Ministry of Foreign Affairs)