KAMPALA, Uganda – The General Court Martial in Makindye on Monday convicted two former Allied Democratic Forces recruits and state informers, Hamza Lyavaala, also known as Lyavala or Lyavara, and Adiil Walusansa, of murder after they pleaded guilty.
The court, chaired by Brig. Gen. Richard Tukacungurwa, heard that the two men admitted to the prosecution’s account of how operations linked to the June 2025 incidents in Munyonyo and Kalerwe were planned and carried out.
According to reports by Uganda Radio Network and other outlets, the court was told that the pair had worked as informants on ADF activities but supplied security agencies with false intelligence while also taking part in the transportation and handling of explosives connected to the attacks.
Lyavaala and Walusansa are jointly charged with Lt. Col. Ephraim Byaruhanga, the former director of special operations at Defence Intelligence and Security, formerly known as the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence. Byaruhanga has pleaded not guilty. Some reports have described him as the alleged mastermind, although the case against him is still before the court.
The prosecution alleges that the operations resulted in the deaths of Sumayiya Baruhanga, also identified as Aisha Katushabe, who died in the Munyonyo blast while carrying explosives, a boda boda rider, and a woman identified in court documents as Sawiya, who was shot near Kalerwe Market.
On June 3, 2025, as Uganda marked Martyrs’ Day, a Uganda People’s Defence Forces counterterrorism unit intercepted two people travelling on a motorcycle about 600 metres from the Munyonyo Catholic Martyrs Shrine in southern Kampala.
An explosion followed, killing both occupants. Authorities said there were no civilian casualties.
The army identified the woman as Aisha Katushabe, also known as Sumayiyah Byaruhanga or Kabonesa. She was reportedly in her 20s.
Acting defence spokesperson Col. Chris Magezi said preliminary findings pointed to ADF operatives and that the suspected target was worshippers and pilgrims. He said security forces engaged the pair and that the explosives detonated during the encounter rather than being deliberately triggered by the suspects.
Katushabe had been arrested in October 2023 over suspected links to the ADF but was later released for lack of sufficient evidence.
Army briefings also linked her family to earlier attacks. She was described as the daughter of Abdul Shakur, also known as Abudu Shakur, who died in a 2021 suicide bombing at Kampala Central Police Station. She was also identified as the widow of Muzafaru, or Muzaffaru, an ADF suspect who was killed that year in connection with a plot targeting mourners attending the funeral of former Deputy Inspector General of Police Lt. Gen. Paul Lokech.
The Munyonyo blast occurred about 30 kilometres from the main Martyrs’ Day celebrations at the Catholic and Anglican shrines in Namugongo, where more than two million pilgrims were expected. The celebrations went ahead under heightened security.
Magezi also said an ADF operative had been arrested two days earlier and had provided information that helped confirm parts of the intelligence picture.
The army described the Munyonyo incident as an attempted suicide attack by an ADF operative. The BBC, Reuters and Al Jazeera also reported the official account linking the incident to the ADF, which has operated in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo as the Islamic State’s Central Africa Province.
A second incident occurred in Kalerwe on June 22, 2025, when security operatives shot dead a woman near the entrance to Kalerwe Market in Kawempe Division.
The UPDF said the woman had been under surveillance for between three and five days after local leaders reported a suspicious person who repeatedly sat near the flyover.
Maj. Gen. Felix Kulayigye, the defence public information director, said intelligence personnel followed the woman after she boarded a boda boda in Busega.
She was stopped near the Gayaza and Northern Bypass flyover but allegedly refused to stop. Security officers shot her as she approached the market.
The army said she was carrying an improvised explosive device in a bag. The device was not worn on her body. A bomb disposal team later disrupted it before detonating it in a controlled explosion.
One market vendor was reportedly injured by gunfire. The incident caused panic as vendors and motorists fled the area.
The army linked the attempted attack to ADF plans targeting markets, places of worship and other crowded locations. Court documents in the current case identify the woman who was killed as Sawiya.
The convictions are part of a wider military investigation into the handling of intelligence surrounding the two incidents. Chief of Defence Forces Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba ordered the inquiry after questions emerged over the intelligence that led to the security operations.
Authorities later detained Col. Peter Ahimbisibwe, then director of counterterrorism, Lt. Col. Byaruhanga and Maj. Gen. James Birungi, the former head of military intelligence.
Reports by ChimpReports, Daily Monitor, The Observer and other outlets have described allegations that false or exaggerated intelligence reports linking the deaths to ADF suicide plots were used to facilitate the release of operational funds. Other allegations concern informants and officers who allegedly misled military planners.
Lyavaala, who was described in June 2025 reports as a local imam with a background in religious instruction and knowledge of explosives, was arrested during the investigation. He was accused of providing distorted information while presenting himself as a trusted source and maintaining contact with Meddie Nkalubo, a sanctioned ADF figure linked to the 2021 Kampala bombings. Nkalubo had previously been reported dead following an airstrike.
Birungi and other accused officers have faced related charges, including treachery and other security offences. Some reports have also referred to murder charges connected to the fatal operations. Byaruhanga has denied the allegations against him.
The ADF emerged in Uganda in the mid 1990s from elements of the Tabliq movement and other rebel groups opposed to President Yoweri Museveni’s government. The group later moved its operations to eastern Congo.
Since about 2019, the ADF has operated as the Islamic State’s Central Africa Province. It was behind a series of deadly attacks in Kampala in 2021, including the bombing at Kampala Central Police Station, and has carried out repeated attacks against civilians in eastern Congo. Ugandan forces have also conducted cross border military operations against ADF camps in Congo.
The court had not yet detailed the sentences for Lyavaala and Walusansa in initial reports of Monday’s conviction.
The case against Byaruhanga remains pending. The guilty pleas by the two former informants, together with allegations of false intelligence and separate charges against senior intelligence officers, leave questions over the exact chain of command and the handling of the explosives to be settled by the court.
No part of this publication or its digital content may be reproduced, distributed, published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed in whole or in part without prior written permission from Kalisho Info.
For inquiries, contact: kalishoinfo@gmail.com
Stay informed and ahead of the curve! Follow Kalisho Info for real-time updates and breaking news.
