Africa-Press – Uganda. The prisons authorities have said Jamil Mukulu, the alleged rebel leader of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), is alive contrary to weekend reports that he had died from their facility.
At the weekend, various social media platforms were awash with reports that the former rebel leader had passed on in prison.
“Mukulu is not dead, he may not be well but he is alive. How many people are unwell and if indeed he had died, I would have been the first one to make the announcement,” Mr Frank Baine, the prisons spokesperson, said yesterday by telephone.
Mukulu’s mother, Hajat Nakiyemba Lutakome, at the weekend cried out to government and Luzira prisons authorities to allow her visit her son and clear the death rumours surrounding him.
With tears flowing down her cheeks, Ms Nakiyemba told journalists at her home in Ntooke Village, Kayunga Sub-county in Kayunga District that she last saw her son in March 2020 when she went to visit him.
“Recently, I received information from a lady who claimed she was from Luzira prison of how my son had died. I have tried to get the truth in vain,” she said.
“If my son is dead, let prison authorities dump his body anywhere in this village, I am sure people will recognise his body and bring it here for burial,” she added.
But Mr Baine downplayed the concerns about Mukulu’s sickness, saying it could have been created by his family to mount pressure on the prisons authorities so that they can be allowed to visit him.
“We have kept Mukulu for the last many years and when he falls sick, we treat. The condition he is in is like for any other prisoner. He is a diabetic candidate and once in a while, he gets bouts of pneumonia.” Mr Baine said.
“He came with it to prison and I think the family wants to use media to mount pressure so that we allow them to visit him in prison but we are not about to adjust anything,” he added.
Mukulu alongside 37 others are currently on remand at Luzira prison over allegations of launching a rebellion against the government and terrorising people in Rwenzori region in western Uganda before establishing his base in eastern DR Congo.
They face counts of terrorism, murder, aggravated robbery, one count of abetting terrorism and crimes against humanity.
