By Our Reporter
The Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF) has defended their officer Lt. Col.Carol Nyakaisiki Basaliza, who allegedly attempted to kidnap her nephew, a one Mwebesa, from St. Leo’s College Kyegobe (SLECK) at it.
We revealed on this Website yesterday how Lt.Col.Nyakaisiki had stormed SLECK at night and allegedly attempted to take Mwebesa from school without his consent.
However, after publishing the article, UPDF spokesperson Brig.Richard Karemire clarified to TheSpy Ugand that Col.Nyakaisiki never attempted to kidnap her nephew Mwebesa like it is alleged, because she had been cleared by the school authorities to take her nephew home for a family meeting.
“Nyakaisiki didn’t attempt to kidnap the boy, she is a true aunt to the children. She is even the one who pays for them school fees. Now it is kidnap, use of force. I think some people are trying to twist facts. She went through the correct channels of the school and was cleared to take the boy. The boy was I think later influenced. But the whole drama is a lesson that there is more to be done in ironing out the existing differences,” Karemire said on Saturday.
He added that “We face such challenges when Comrades pass on and their children have mothers that were kind not official. Relatives of the deceased many times go through such challenges and all sorts of harangues as they try to secure the future of such children.”
Sources revealed that UPDF’s Lt. Col. Carol Nyakaisiki Basaliza, on Wednesday February 12, 2020, at 10:00PM, in company of two young men, dressed in military attire and armed with guns, forced themselves into the premises of St. Leo’s College Kyegobe, in Kabura, Fort Portal Municipality.
Nyakaisiki claimed that she had gone to collect a nephew, who is a student there, a one Mwebesa, on pretext that they had a family meeting the following day at their home in Rwengaju, regarding the succession plan of her late brother Maj. Francis Kasaija, (Mwebesa’s father) who passed on two years back.
Upon entry into the school, she directly moved through the office to the staff room and found a teacher on duty, a one Freedom Fredrick.
The teacher was unable to handle the matter since it was very late in the evening. In turn the teacher requested for the deputy head teacher’s advice. Being late, the deputy head teacher was already home and advised the teacher and the officer to meet him at his residence.
On reaching the deputy head teacher a one Nabaasa, demanded to know the reason of taking the student by the officer at night, who is not in his records as a guardian and the records at the school don’t indicate the army officer as an Aunt. Officially, the recognized parents are the grandfather and the mother, a one Passi Binega.
The Officer identified herself as a UPDF officer, a movement cadre and wore a military uniform. The deputy head teacher believed Nyakaisiki, being in a national army uniform, and requested the teacher on duty to go and process the student’s release document on condition that the student would be returned the following day as promised by the Aunt.
When the boy was called upon, he was happy to see the Aunt, well aware that the grandfather had switched him from Kampala to Fort Portal schools. However, he was curious because the same Aunt is among those who want to use him as an excuse to acquire the deceased’s pensions and gratuity.
The boy was smart and pretended to go to the dormitory to pick his sweater, but later disappeared and couldn’t be traced anywhere. At that time Col. Nyakaisiki demanded the teacher to take her with the two gentlemen to the dormitory, which the teacher complied with.
However, on reaching the dormitory, Nyakaisiki and her two bodyguards almost got lynched by students, although they were whisked out by teachers and escorted to the staff room, until Mwebesa’s mother was called to the school to sort the matter. However when she arrived, they instead exchanged hot words for trying to ‘steal’ her son.
