Ugandan army cleared of complicity in priest's murder

THE Ugandan army has been cleared of any complicity in the murder of an Irish priest by two of its soldiers last year.

Irish diplomats are scrutinising the report of an inquiry board into the death of Galway priest Fr Declan O'Toole, who was gunned down along with two of his workers in March 2002.

The 31-year-old from Headford, a member of the Mill Hill Missionaries, had been highly critical of the army's activities in the Kotido district of north east Uganda where he worked.

The two soldiers who shot him were court martialed and executed just four days after the shooting, a move many people felt was an effort to cover up the involvement of higher ranking officials.

But the report published by Uganda's defence ministry at the weekend backed the army's claim that it was not involved. The findings are the outcome of deliberations by a board of inquiry, composed mostly of military officers.

"The board did not find any evidence indicating complicity of the army in the murder of Fr Declan O'Toole," the report said.

"The death of Fr O'Toole was the result of a criminal act of Corporal James Omedio and Private Abdalla Mahamed, acting on their own and their personal interests," it said.

Uganda's Defence Minister Amama Mbabazi has sent a copy of the report to the Irish Embassy in the capital, Kampala.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said the report was delivered yesterday and officials have begun examining the findings.

"Our embassy in Kampala have only received the report in the last few hours. They will be studying it and they will respond in due course," a department spokesperson said.

Although the Irish Ambassador Mairtín Ó Fainín raised concerns at the board's hearing into Fr O'Toole's death, it is unclear whether any appeal of the findings can be made.

"We had a feeling that the Ugandan army had directly killed the father," Mr Ó Fainín told the inquest board.

He said disagreements between the army and the priest before his death had triggered the assault against him by the soldiers.

John O'Shea, head of Irish aid agency GOAL, said Ireland should withdraw official aid to Uganda, which has one of the most corrupt administrations in the world.

"Fr O'Toole's murder is just another issue on top of the ongoing human rights abuses by the Ugandan government in their own country and in the Congo. But our own Government is giving them around 40 million this year."

Fine Gael's foreign affairs spokesperson Gay Mitchell said the Government should demand an independent inquiry, perhaps chaired by a retired judge.