Country Reports on Terrorism 2015 - Uganda

Overview: In 2015, the Government of Uganda continued to be a strong advocate of cross-border solutions to regional security issues, effectively supported U.S. counterterrorism efforts, and showed strong political will to apprehend suspected terrorists and disrupt terrorist activity in its territory. Al-Shabaab continued to put pressure on Uganda's security apparatus, however, primarily due to Uganda's troop contributions to the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM). Uganda's ability to respond to such threats was inconsistent, given its resource and capacity limitations, porous borders, and corruption at all levels of government.

2015 Terrorist Incidents: On March 30, Joan Kagezi, Assistant Director of Public Prosecution and Head of the International Criminal Division in Uganda's Ministry of Justice, was shot and killed while shopping at a local market. Kagezi was prosecuting individuals associated with the Lord's Resistance Army as well as suspects in the 2010 World Cup terrorist bombings in Kampala that killed 76 people, including one American. The Government of Uganda officially labeled this a "terrorist-affiliated assassination act." At year's end, no one had been charged with Kagezi's murder.

Legislation, Law Enforcement, and Border Security: Uganda's Anti-Terrorism Act of 2002, which has been Uganda's primary legal framework for deterring, detecting, and prosecuting terrorist activity and incidents, was revised in June. Parliament adopted the Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Bill, 2015, to expand the list of terrorist acts to include indirect involvement in terrorist activities as well as: electronic attacks, acts against national security or public safety, acts of terrorism committed in a foreign state, and unlawful possession of materials promoting terrorism. At the end of 2015, the Ugandan government intended to further amend the act.

The Uganda Police Force (UPF) Directorate of Counterterrorism is the lead Ugandan law enforcement entity charged with investigating, disrupting, and responding to terrorist incidents. While Ugandan law enforcement officers assigned to this directorate were highly motivated, the UPF overall was limited in its capacity to detect, deter, and respond to terrorist incidents due to the lack of manpower, resources, basic skills, and competencies. Further hindering the UPF's ability to combat terrorism, Ugandan police officers in general were particularly susceptible to corruption due to the generally low level of pay and late disbursement of salary payments.

In the wake of increased terrorist activity and violent crime in the East Africa region, the UPF established an interagency unit to better coordinate counterterrorism efforts across Ugandan security agencies.

The bulk of the counterterrorism police and other law enforcement elements was centrally located in the capital, which limited the effectiveness of law enforcement in the border regions and other areas outside Kampala. The UPF lacked the technological resources needed to conduct comprehensive terrorism investigations in the most effective manner, although the UPF held regular interagency meetings in an attempt to ensure coordination among its security and intelligence agencies.

The United States continued to provide significant counterterrorism training assistance to the UPF, specifically through the Department of State's Antiterrorism Assistance program, which builds capacity in the areas of counterterrorism investigations, crisis response, and border security. Border security remained a persistent concern for the Ugandan government, which continued work to expand its enforcement and monitoring capacity. Notable among these activities in 2015 was the Department of State's second-annual East Africa Joint Operations capstone exercise, a month-long training series hosted in Kenya for Kenyan, Ugandan, and Tanzanian law enforcement personnel; the exercise culminated in a large-scale simulation of a response to a terrorist incident, including a cross-border pursuit, that also focused on community engagement and human rights-related issues. Uganda relied on the Terrorist Interdiction Program's Personal Identification Secure Comparison and Evaluation System (PISCES) to conduct traveler screening and watchlisting, incorporating biographic and biometric screening at the country's major points of entry.

The UPF cooperated with the United States on terrorism-related cases, and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) maintained strong relationships with the UPF. Uganda was prosecuting the 12 individuals arrested for orchestrating the July 2010 al-Shabaab bombings following the World Cup, and was working closely with the FBI since one of the victims of those attacks was an U.S. citizen. The FBI continued to work with the Ugandan government on other terrorism investigations.

The United States and UPF continued to try to operationalize a 2013 Memorandum of Cooperation to modernize the UPF's criminal records management system to replace the outdated system used to identify criminal and terrorist suspects.

Countering the Financing of Terrorism: Uganda is a member of the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group, a Financial Action Task Force (FATF)-style regional body. In 2015, Uganda was under review by the FATF itself, due to a number of strategic deficiencies in its anti-money laundering/combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regime. In July, Uganda made further progress toward implementing the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) of 2013 when the finance minister constituted a five-member board of the Financial Intelligence Authority (FIA), which under the AMLA is responsible for monitoring and regulating remittance services and wire transfer data. However, at year's end the FIA has not become fully functional due to a lack of staffing and funding from the central government.

A significant portion of financial transactions in Uganda takes place in the form of "mobile money" payments and transfers, which could be abused by individuals and entities engaged in money laundering, terrorism financing, or other forms of financial crime. At the same time, money transfers and payments through mobile phones are a key provider of basic financial services for low-income earners who cannot afford the charges levied by banks. While the AMLA requires financial institutions to conduct comprehensive customer due diligence, it does not put the same requirements on mobile money transfers.

Uganda has made some progress toward, but still falls short of, meeting its international obligation to criminalize terrorism financing and it continues to have significant deficiencies with respect to its procedures for implementing targeted financial sanctions. Through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, and the Bank of Uganda, the government routinely distributes UN lists of designated terrorists or terrorist entities to financial institutions.

For further information on money laundering and financial crimes, see the 2016 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR), Volume II, Money Laundering and Financial Crimes: http://www.state.gov/j/inl/rls/nrcrpt/2014/index.htm.

Countering Violent Extremism: The Government of Uganda recognizes the importance of countering violent extremism (CVE) and has shown interest in partnering with the U.S. government and Ugandan Muslim leaders to conduct more systematic and targeted outreach to counter violent extremism. These efforts included the Ugandan government's attendance at the White House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism convened in Washington, DC, in February 2015, and follow-on regional meetings. Local NGOs were involved in counter-messaging focused on the Muslim community. While the government recognized the need for CVE programs, the success of its efforts has generally been hindered by the lack of a clearly defined programmatic response and an unorganized methodology for assigning Ugandan government offices and personnel to address CVE issues.

International and Regional Cooperation: Uganda is a strong force for regional stability, security coordination, and counterterrorism efforts, and is an active member of the AU, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, the East African Community, the Partnership for Regional East Africa Counterterrorism, and the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region. Uganda contributed troops to AMISOM to stabilize Somalia and counter al-Shabaab. In July, Uganda signed a memorandum of understanding with Ethiopia to strengthen defense ties. The agreement focuses on the security situation in South Sudan and Somalia and terrorism in the region.