The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Luwero, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Police in Luwero has rearrested a man who claims to be a son of Joseph Kibwetere after he was found in possession of wildlife protected species.
Two weeks ago, police in Luwero arrested Juvenal Rugambwa aged 57, a resident of Kilambula village in Zirobwe sub county.
Rugambwa was arrested after residents reported to police that he had dug a grave to bury a stepchild aged 10 years who was still alive. Police with support from FIDA transferred the sick child to Luwero hospital for treatment.
Rugambwa told police that he dug the grave to bury the sick child in case she died because efforts to treat her had not yielded any positive results.
On Tuesday, Rugambwa appeared before Luwero Chief Magistrate Samuel Munobe and charges of child trafficking were read to him. Rugambwa denied the charges and was released on bail. But immediately, police re-arrested and transferred him back to Luwero Central Police station cells.
Charles Twiine, the Spokesperson of Criminal Investigations Directorate says that Rugambwa was re-arrested after police recovered four live tortoises kept at his home.
Twiine added that Rugambwa will be picked from Luwero Central Police Station and transferred to the Utilities Court in Kampala city to face the charges of being in possession of wildlife species which is prohibited by the Wildlife Act.
Uganda Wildlife Authority has since picked and transferred the tortoises to a protected area.
Bashir Hangi, the spokesman of Uganda Wildlife Authority says that it is unlawful for any person to keep a tortoise without a license from the Authority.
According to section 71 (1) (b) of Wildlife Act 2009, any person found in possession of, sells, buys, or accepts the transfer of protected species commits an offense and shall be liable to a fine not exceeding ten thousand currency points or life imprisonment or both.
Rugambwa on arrest told police and journalists that he is the second born of genocidaire Joseph Kibwetere.
In 2000, Rugambwa was pictured with a photograph of Kibwetere at their family house located at Kabumba village.
Kibwetere was a leader of the Movement for Restoration of the Ten Commandments, a cult that believed the world would come to an end at the turn of the millennium.
The infamous cult massacred 778 of its members in Kanungu district when they locked them inside a church with the doors and windows nailed shut from the outside before they set it alight.
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