Amuru Grade I Magistrate’s court has charged two South Sudanese nationals with illegal possession of firearm arms contrary to sub section 3 (clause 1, 2) cap 29 (a) of the Uganda firearm act.
Moses Koul, 19, and a juvenile who could not be named were charged today morning by Magistrate Edward Okot.
Koul, a resident of the South Sudan border town of Nimule was arrested while trying to sell the weapon in Amuru district.
Meanwhile the juvenile who is currently being kept at Gulu Remand Home was a refugee at Nyamazi Refugee Camp in Adjumani district which hosts over 20,000 South Sudanese nationals.
They were picked up by police detective in plain cloth at a local drinking joint on January 28, 2016 before being questioned.
Jerry Oyirwoth, the Amuru State Prosecutor told court that the pair was arrested with six live bullets and a pistol.
Oyirwoth says Koul and his friend had planned to sell the gun and the bullets for 1,000 South Sudanese Pounds at the border market town of Elegu in Atiak Sub County, Amuru district.
The suspects denied the charge.
Koul told court when he said the gun found in his possession was ‘‘his property for personal protection’’ and not for sale.
Court further remanded the suspects until April, 4, 2016 when they are expected to reappear before the same court to answer the charges brought against them.
When conflict broke out in South Sudan in December 2013, atleast 30, 000 South Sudanese nationals fled into Uganda. Security forces in Uganda seized dozens of weapons from them.
The weapons mostly belonged to the South Sudan Liberation Army (SPLA) and the police and prison officers fleeing the conflict in Africa’s newest nation.
Among military equipment’s recovered by the Uganda army included 141 pairs of uniforms, guns, bayonets, 287 rounds of ammunition and four sets of walkie- talkies.
