The state minister of planning, David Bahati, has survived an assassination attempt after security intervened and arrested suspects who were reportedly plotting to finish off the minister.
Impeccable security sources said the suspected assassins approached Bahati’s driver (name withheld), who they allegedly wanted to conscript into the plot to kill his boss (the minister), given his (driver’s) closeness.
“Sometime around April this year, these people approached the minister’s driver and asked him if he could join them on their ‘very sensitive’ mission. But when they told the driver that the mission was about a plot to assassinate his boss, the driver was stunned and he immediately informed Bahati, the source revealed.
The security source added that Bahati advised his driver to report the matter to the authorities and as of yesterday, the driver and the minister had reportedly recorded their statements with the Police. Acting on information given by the driver and the minister, operatives from the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI) and the Police trailed the suspects.
By yesterday, there were several arrests made although we could not readily establish the number of suspects in custody. When contacted, Bahati, who is also the Ndorwa West Member of Parliament (MP), confirmed the incident, saying the matter was being handled by security agencies.
When asked whether his security had been beefed up as a result of the thwarted plan to assassinate him, the minister, who was guarded, said: “Security is handling the matter. All I can say is that God is good, He watches over us.”
According to sources, preliminary findings have shown that the suspects, currently being detained at Kireka in Wakiso district, have links with some contacts in a neighboring country and have over the past few weeks made several calls to their contacts in that country.
By press time, CMI and Police detectives were still interrogating the suspects with a view of finding out why they wanted to finish off the minister and who had sent them. The source said the suspects have been largely traveling on motorcycles and had eluded arrest since April until recently when they were apprehended