A woman crossing from neighbouring Kenya has been arrested on suspicion of carrying a bomb into Uganda.  The suspect was detained by the police in Busia pending further investigations.

The suspect, who travelled by bus from Kenyan capital Nairobi to Busia, was intercepted at Sofia Village at about 4.30am on Tuesday by local council officials, who were manning a checkpoint on the porous crossing.

Mr Didas Byaruhanga, the Busia District police commander, confirmed the interception of an object “feared dangerous” and the arrest of the woman.

“It is true we have arrested a woman and recovered an object we suspect is dangerous,” Mr Byaruhanga said.

He said the suspect, a resident of Kisoro District, had stashed the suspected bomb in one of her bags and had arrived at the checkpoint on a motorcycle.  Mr David Barasa, a Sofia B Village official, said the woman looked suspicious and when “we checked her bag, we found the suspected bomb, that is when we alerted the police.”

“She arrived at the checkpoint on a motorcycle, whose rider says he picked her from the Busia Kenya bus terminal,” Mr Barasa said.

Security operatives joined by Counter Terrorism Police deployed explosive sniffer dogs and cordoned off the scene.

The boda boda rider, told the Daily Monitor the suspect told her she was travelling to Kampala and she insisted on using a porous border point.

Kampala bombings

“But when we arrived at this checkpoint, local council officials stopped us and checked her bag, only to discover the suspected bomb,” he said.

The incident comes in the wake of several explosions that have rocked Kampala City and surrounding areas, which government has blamed on the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an extremist rebel group based in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The group has been linked to the Islamic State terrorist entity.

Busia District has a stretch of 57kms of porous border from Majanji to River Malaba, with more than 200 ungazetted entry points that are rarely manned by security personnel.

Mr John Rex Achila, the area Resident District Commissioner (RDC), said the porous nature of the border in the district remain a challenge, especially in combating issues relating to cross-border crime.

“We have a challenge of the porous border but as security, we are working with local council officials and residents to ensure our borders are not used by criminally minded people,” Mr Achila said.

Four years ago, local officials manning the same checkpoint confiscated a sub machine gun from two suspected criminals, who were disguising as herdsmen.

The suspected bomb has been taken to Kampala for analysis by ballistic experts.

Background

• On October 23, a bomb exploded in a bar in Komamboga, a Kampala City surburb killing one person.

• On October 25, another bomb went off on a Swift Safari bus in Mpigi District. Police say the only casuality of the attack was the suicide bomber who detonated it.

• On November 16, two bombs exploded in Kampala City. One bomb exploded outside Central Police Station while the other one went off at Parliament Avenue. Seven people were killed in the explosion.