The General Court Martial sitting in Mogadishu has found five Ugandan soldiers serving with the African Union Mission in Somalia guilty of killing seven civilians.
AMISOM said the Court sentenced two to death and handed three others 39-year prison terms each.
An AMISOM statement reads: “After sitting from 2-12th November 2021 and reviewing all the facts including witness statements, the Court Martial on 12th November 2021, found the soldiers guilty of killing the civilians”
Kampala instituted legal proceedings in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu after the allegations of civilian casualties in the town of Golweyn emerged in August this year. The soldiers will be repatriated to Uganda to serve their sentences.
There are about 20,000 AMISOM soldiers in Somalia deployed to combat an armed uprising by al-Shabab fighters linked to al-Qaeda terrorist group.
Nine Ugandan soldiers were similarly found guilty of illegally selling fuel meant for AMISOM to civilians in 2016.
In 2013, Uganda recalled 24 officers among the contingent commander Brigadier Michael Ondoga for allegedly selling food rations meant for soldiers. Ondoga was exonerated by a military court in 2015.
