Police in Jinja arrests mad man spying for ADF rebels

Police in Jinja City have in custody one Nyanzi David Living Mwenze, who is alleged to be a member of the Allied Democratic Forces, a rebel group operating in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

He was caught on Monday at 4:45 am spying on Embassy Bar and Restaurant, a popular hangout in Jinja City as one of the targets for ADF operations.

Nyanzi who was disguised as a mad man was found in possession of a smartphone which he was using to take photographs. He also had cash, in denominations of Shs50,000, Shs20,000 and Shs10,000 notes. He also had two AK47 bullets, four sim cards, eight street parking ticket receipts, and a school receipt.

Senior Commissioner of Police and Police Spokesperson Fred Enanga, said Nyanzi was arrested as he took pictures of the popular restaurant in the wee hours of the morning.

“He had disguised as a mad person putting on dirty clothes. What raised suspicion is that he had a smartphone he was using to take photographs. On arrest, he was found with cash in shs50,000, shs20,000 and shs10,000 notes. He also had two AK47 bullets, four sim cards, eight street parking ticket receipts, and a school receipt,” Enanga said.

He said after arrest, the suspect was subjected to a mental test by a psychiatrist that came out negative as the suspect was found to be of sound mind.

In a related development, the Police Spokesperson said a Congolese national has been arrested in Nansana over suspicion of being a wrong element.

Enanga said the suspect was seen in a bar making frantic calls and on arrest, he said he was from Beni in DRC but didn’t have any identification document on him.

“He was handed over to crime intelligence for interrogation. There are still sleeper cells in the country for ADF and are trying to identify soft targets.”

Enanga said operations targeting ADF sleeper cells are still ongoing throughout the country.

The development comes a week after two explosives went off in Kampala and Wakiso.

Known originally to be based in western Uganda, ADF has expanded into the neighboring DRC, from where they organize themselves and carry out deadly operations onto Ugandan soil.