Police using CCTV footage to trace killers of South Sudan General

Police is analysing a Closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage to obtain more clues as they intensify efforts to apprehend unknown people who attacked a former South Sudan senior army officer on Wednesday last week.

Brig. Gen. Abraham Wani Yoane Bondo, the former deputy governor of Yei River state in South Sudan, succumbed to the injuries from the assault on Thursday last week.Charles Twiine, the spokesperson of the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID), said ‘vigorous’ investigations were ongoing with a team still in the field trying to analyse all possible clues.

“We have a number of leads and we are confident that the culprits will be identified and arraigned in courts of law,” Twiine said.The attack happened at Bondo’s rented home in Nsumbi Zone, Kyebando in Nansana municipality. 

The general had been living in Uganda with his family since 2016. He was a key figure during the country’s second liberation struggle that culminated in the independence of South Sudan in 2011.

He was later appointed adviser to the governor of the Central Equatoria State during Clement Wani Konga’s tenure. He was also a member of the South Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (Organisation) led by Dr Riek Machar.

The general is said to have been attacked at about 4:00am when a group of assailants jumped over the perimeter wall and knocked on his door.

He is said to have opened after hearing the people speaking one of the languages used in South Sudan and known to him. 

He is also said to have engaged with them for some time, until they started assaulting him.

His body, according to the Police, had injuries, with a deep cut on his head. The Police said the killers used some dangerous weapon to assault him and left him unconscious.His 15-year old daughter who had taken cover, heard all that transpired, later walked out and sought assistance from the local leaders who tipped the Police.

He was first taken to the Orthodox Hospital in Namungoona, Kampala, but was later referred to International Hospital Kampala, where he died two days later.

According to Twiine, through the Eastern Africa Police Chiefs Co-operation Organisation (EAPCCO), the Uganda Police had shared information with their counterparts in South Sudan and were in touch, sharing all their undertakings in the investigations.

“As Police, we share information under the EAPCCO for the interest of peace and policing within the region,” he said, adding that South Sudan was a member of the association.

He, however, said further official communication would be done by Uganda’s High Commission in Juba or through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

One of the family members, however, told New Vision that they had been given the general’s body and that it was in their hands after the Police carried out a post-mortem. He said the family, working closely with the Pojulu community in Uganda, had organised prayers for at some place in Namuwongo.He said the community will release a statement about the general’s death during the prayers.

Wani was also mourned by the government of the Central Equatoria Province, which described him as a veteran politician who contributed generously to the independence of South Sudan, according to the South Sudan media.

According to sources, Wani was in 2015 appointed deputy governor for Yei River State, following the creation of the 32 states. 

In August 2016, he defected to the main opposition faction, the SPLMIO, led by Dr Riek Machar, but he abandoned SPLM-IO and joined the South Sudan National Movement for Change led by Joseph Bakasoro Bokosoro, currently the national minister of labour.