Prominent leaders and elders in the Iteso community have strongly condemned former state minister for Works Musa Ecweru over his threats to have retired Lt Gen Peter Elwelu killed if he is cornered by security forces. Ecweru, a former Amuria County MP and commander of the disbanded Arrow Boys militia, warned Elwelu to surrender to security authorities within 24 hours or risk being killed. He stated that he would not allow anyone to undermine the peace achieved in the Teso sub-region.
Ecweru called on Elwelu to abandon any alleged plans to destabilise the region and surrender himself to Soroti Catholic Diocese Bishop Joseph Oliach Eciru. He warned that any attempt to plunge Teso into instability would be a grave mistake that the retired general would regret. Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba has accused Elwelu, the former deputy army chief, of plotting a coup against his father’s National Resistance Movement (NRM) government.
However, elders in Teso have accused Ecweru of escalating tensions and attempting to assume the role of established security institutions. They have urged him to withdraw his remarks and allow security agencies to investigate the allegations against Elwelu. The elders warned that inflammatory statements could undermine efforts to establish the truth and destabilise a region that has endured decades of insecurity.
Former Uganda ambassador to Nigeria Nelson Ocheger dismissed suggestions of rising tensions in Teso, accusing Ecweru of unnecessarily invoking the former Arrow Boys militia in a sensitive security matter that falls within the mandate of security agencies. Ocheger said he had returned from Teso on Tuesday and found no evidence of tension in the region.
Ocheger suggested that Ecweru’s remarks were politically motivated and cautioned against exploiting former Arrow Boys, whom he described as vulnerable people who had previously been used and subsequently abandoned. He urged the public to allow the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) to conduct its investigations and account to the country, warning that public statements should not prejudice the process or portray Elwelu as guilty before the facts are established.
Critics, including Philip Engaru, a mechanical engineer based in Turin, Italy, and Charles Opolot, a former parliamentary candidate for Kumi County, have also condemned Ecweru's intervention as opportunistic and urged the people of Teso to disregard his remarks. They questioned Ecweru's moral authority to portray Elwelu as a rebel, given his own involvement in armed conflict.
Meanwhile, Muhoozi on Tuesday announced on social media that he had stripped Elwelu of his military ranks and demoted him to the rank of Private. In a post on his official X account, Muhoozi described Elwelu as a traitor and declared that he had been stripped of his ranks. Elwelu has not publicly responded to the claims against him, but his relatives have reportedly said he went into hiding shortly after the elections over fears for his personal safety.
Key points
- Musa Ecweru threatens to have retired Lt Gen Peter Elwelu killed if he is cornered by security forces.
- Elders in Teso condemn Ecweru's remarks, urging him to allow security agencies to investigate the allegations against Elwelu.
- Critics accuse Ecweru of escalating tensions and attempting to assume the role of established security institutions.
