South Sudan rebel commander beaten to death in Uganda

Gen. Abraham Wani /Courtesy/radiotamazuj.org

The leadership of the rebel South Sudan National Movement for Change/Army (SSNMC/A) on Thursday said that their Chief of General Staff was beaten to death in the Ugandan capital Kampala.

In a press released, SSNMC/A Secretary-General Kwaje Lasu, said that General Abraham Wana Yoane was attacked in his house in Kampala on the night of 20 April, beaten and left for dead.  

Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Friday, Lasu said, “He was attacked on the night of 20 April at his home in Kampala in Uganda. Some people climbed over the fence and they were speaking in Arabic, they were South Sudanese. They knocked on the door and when the general opened they beat him up severely, in a very inhuman way. He was stabbed with a knife in the back.”

Lasu said his outfit believes the people who attacked Gen. Wana were sent from Juba, “They even told him that they have come to take him to Juba and you will come with us. When the general tried to fight them off they beat him up terribly.”

According to SSNMC/A, the deceased was taken to International Hospital Kampala where he underwent head surgery but succumbed to his injuries and died yesterday 22 April.

Asked how he knew that the assailants were sent by the government of South Sudan, Lasu said, “We have had intelligence for a long time that the government in Juba has been targeting Gen. Abraham from a long time ago. They are targeting many people in the region. They talk peace with us but they continue to target and kill people.” 

When Radio Tamazuj told Lasu that the Uganda Police said they had no report or information about the attack on Gen. Wana, he retorted, “And is that something new from the Ugandan authorities? How many South Sudanese have been killed in Uganda but they always say they have no information. It is known that the authorities in Uganda cooperate with the South Sudan government. They work together. It is not the first time such a thing happens and the governments of Uganda and Kenya deny knowledge.”

Asked if the deceased was staying alone or with his family, Lasu said, “He was at home with a child but the child run away when they started beating the general. There were four assailants but they might have even been more. It was reported to the police and the Local Council system in the area.”

The Kampala Metropolitan police spokesperson, Luke Owoyesigyire, told Radio in a telephone interview, “We don’t have anything like that. It is my first time hearing this thing from you. If it was true our local media would have also aired it but no one is even aware of it. Unless it happened somewhere else in Uganda but not in Kampala. 

He said the police in Kampala had not registered a case like that and advised Radio Tamazuj to get in touch with Uganda’s foreign ministry. 

“Someone who was beaten and died, we don’t have a case like that. We do have mob justice but no one of South Sudanese nationality was beaten and died,” Owoyesigire said.