On the night of July 11, 2010 two bombs were set off at Kyadondo Rugby grounds and the Ethiopian Village in Kabalagala, leading to the death of 76 and injuring dozens more, in the worst terror attack in Kampala.
Six years later, then high court Judge Owiny Dollo convicted 13 people for the attacks. During the trial a conspiracy that stretched from Ahghanistan to Somalia, that roped in Kenyan and Tanzanian accomplices was uncovered.
Three bombs were meant to go off that night, but one in Makindye malfunctioned and was discovered in an abandoned bag by staff the next day. The two that went off were detonated by suspected Somali suicide bombers.
That was the last we heard about suicide bombers in Uganda, until three weeks ago when one Matovu Muzafari blew himself up and killed one other passenger, travelling in bus heading west on the Kampala-Masaka road.
"At the risk of understating the obvious, signing up to be a suicide bomber is not for the faint hearted.... From what is known suicide bombers are often young, and their trainers have exploited some past injustice against them or their families to brainwash them into giving up their lives for a cause. So the Muzarafi incident threw up some interesting questions. Had we started breeding our own suicide bombers?
The Tuesday attacks seemed to confirm that. Seen on CCTV camera one bomber, with a backpack was seen walking past the entrance to the Central Police Station (CPS) before he is engulfed in a orange ball of flame and smoke. The second bomber was seen riding up parliament avenue towards parliament before he and his boda rider exploded.
"By definition, no one knows how a suicide bomber behaves before he presses the button. But security minster Major General Jim Muhwezi suggested the bombers may have been unknowing accomplices to the crime. Using the CPS bomber as an example Muhwezi said he was on the phone when the blast went off, his body language suggesting he was still moving on to another destination.
In the earlier case on the bus it was reported that Muzarafi’s accomplice Nsubuga Muhammad, alighted from the bus minutes before the bomb blast. In hindsight Muzarafi may have been oblivious to his eventual mission and that Nsubuga may have detonated his bomb remotely. We will not know for sure as Nsubuga was killed soon after by security agents.
Given our experience, where suicide bombers have been the most lethal, it should bring some relief that we may not have suicide bomber cells in Uganda.
That being said, if we needed any confirmation that security issues cannot be left to the security agents, this week was it.
The attackers live among us and they can attack at any time of the day or night. It may be added that previous bob attacks were during the night but possibly because the curfew restrictions the bombers have decided there are not enough targets at night.
Now not only should be on the lookout for luggage left unattended but also for unusual behavior from our neighbours and desist from helping carrying unknown luggage around.
The village councils need to be reactivated. They need know who all the residents in their areas are, where there have come from and other relevant details.
"The point is personal vigilance is more important than ever. The war is being brought to our doorsteps...
The police are pointing at the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) and this too is interesting. In the 1999 spate of bombings in Kampala the story was that the ADF, under pressure in their bases in the Rwenzori mountains were hoping to divert security attention from operations in western Uganda.
These attacks may suggest the ADF are suffering unwanted pressure in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) bases and these attacks it is hoped can ease their pain.
Stay safe!
