news 12 October 2026 Daily Monitor (Uganda)
Informant Claims Plot to Frame Gen. Birungi in Staged Bombings
A convicted military informer, Hamza Lyavaala, has alleged that a senior intelligence officer coerced him into falsely implicating former intelligence chief Maj. Gen. James Birungi in fabricated murder charges. Lyavaala made these claims while testifying as a state witness against his co-accused, Lt. Col. Ephraim Byaruhanga. Source: https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/drama-in-court-martial-as-convicted-informer-alleges-plan-to-frame-gen-birungi-in-staged-bomb-murders-5629668
Drama unfolded in the General Court Martial as Hamza Lyavaala, a former military informer who has pleaded guilty to murder charges, accused a senior intelligence officer of attempting to frame Maj. Gen. James Birungi. Lyavaala claims he was pressured to falsely implicate the former intelligence chief in connection with alleged staged bomb attacks.
Lyavaala was testifying as a state witness in the trial of his co-accused, Lt. Col. Ephraim Byaruhanga. The charges stem from the murder of two women, allegedly linked to staged bomb incidents in Munyonyo and Kalerwe in 2025. Despite his guilty plea to two counts of murder, Lyavaala denied personally carrying out the killings during cross-examination, stating he pleaded guilty to expedite the court process.
He asserted that a superior officer instructed him to falsely accuse Maj. Gen. Birungi, who has been detained since August 2025 on charges of treachery and offenses relating to security. Lyavaala’s testimony introduces a new layer of complexity to the ongoing military court proceedings, suggesting a potential conspiracy within intelligence circles.
Maj. Gen. Birungi himself faces serious charges and has been remanded. The case involves Lyavaala and another informer, Adiil Walusansa, who also pleaded guilty. Lt. Col. Byaruhanga, however, denies all charges against him.