President Museveni has criticized the UPDF for mishandling the crime scene investigation following the murder of two foreign tourists in Queen Elizabeth Park in western Uganda.

During a pass-out ceremony at Kabalye Police Training School in Masindi District, where 2,717 newly trained Probational Police Constables, Special Police Constables, and Immigration Officers graduated, Museveni remarked, “The recent killers of tourists in the Queen Elizabeth National Park would have been apprehended quickly if the army had not mismanaged the situation.”

He went on to say, “They relied solely on visual inspection at the crime scene.”

The victims, British citizen David Barlow, his South African wife Emmaretia Geyer, and their Ugandan tour guide Eric Alyai, were shot dead by suspected Allied Democratic Forces rebels on October 17, 2023. The Uganda Police handed over the bodies of the tourists to a team of forensic and investigative experts from the UK on November 1 for repatriation.

Museveni suggested that military personnel at the crime scene “could have employed a police dog for tracking.”

He further added, “I contacted people on the ground hours later, and the dog successfully followed the criminals for 15 kilometers. We apprehended those individuals much later.”

Subsequently, ADF commander Abdul Rashid Kyote, also known as Njovu, was arrested and charged in court for his involvement, along with others, in the brutal attack and murder of two foreign tourists and their guide in Queen Elizabeth National Park. He also faced charges related to attacks resulting in the death of five innocent civilians.