Reported by Kerry Howard Mwesigwa
Former Kampala Metropolitan Regional Police Commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Siraj Bakaleke has resurfaced after nearly five years on the run. He fled the country in 2018 after he was suspended from duty following allegations that he had defrauded Uganda Shillings 1.4 billion from two South Korean nationals. At the time of his disappearance, Bakaleke was one of the Kampala Regional Police Commanders.
Bakaleke was accused of wrongful arrest and confinement of the South Korean nationals who were on a gold hunt in Uganda. He was subsequently declared Absent Without Official Leave (AWOL) after more than 30 days of allegedly being away from duty. Police issued instructions to the then District Police Commander of Buyende to search for Bakaleke at his father’s home in Innuula Village, Bugaya Sub County, and advise him to report to his duty station before November 25, 2018 failure of which he would be declared a deserter and a wanted person.
After several years on the run, Bakaleke reported to police headquarters and was forwarded to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations where he recorded a statement on charges of desertion. Bakaleke was briefly detained and given a police bond pending perusal of the file and advice from the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
The charges against Bakaleke include fraud, kidnap, and abuse of office, alongside the lawyer Paul Wanyoto Mugoya, Nabeta Samuel Mulowooza, the Managing Director of Eye Power Engineering Company, and police officers Robert Munezero, Innocent Nuwagaba, Robert Ray Asiimwe, Junior Amanya, Babu Gastavas, and Kenneth Zirintuusa. While eight of the suspects took a plea to the charges in court, Bakaleke and lawyer Paul Wanyoto are yet to be charged with arrest warrants issued against the two.
Reports indicate that the South Koreans were arrested from Acacia Mall in Kampala, where they were due to meet their lawyer. The dealers were surrounded by security operatives, put at gunpoint, and asked to hand over the money in their possession. A total of Shs1.4 billion was handed over to the police officers before the two South Koreans were arrested and detained at Katwe Police Station. They were later informed that they were facing terrorism charges and would be deported.
It later turned out that the deployment had been sanctioned by ACP Bakaleke after a tip-off from the lawyer who indicated that two of his clients were involved in dubious activities, and he had a suspicion that they were financial terrorists. The police officers reportedly bought two air tickets with Emirates Air using some of the extorted money but missed the flight, creating confusion among the plotters of the deportation. They hurriedly bought new tickets with Rwanda Air but were caught before the South Koreans boarded the plane.
