Lt Col Michael Katungi is a low-profile military officer who, unlike many others, enjoys the deepest trust of criminal murderous despot Museveni when it comes to executing shady missions that bring him personal financial gain.
On several occasions, Museveni has publicly praised Katungi for successfully carrying out sensitive and highly discreet assignments.
Katungi clandestinely manages Museveni’s flourishing criminal enterprises, which include human trafficking, harvesting of human body parts, illicit drug trafficking, and supplying arms to various terrorist outfits among others.
As the old saying goes, a thief’s days are always numbered. This time, Museveni’s most trusted military operative is making international headlines after the USA administration indicted him for a series of serious crimes of international nature.
These crimes include conspiracy to distribute cocaine; conspiracy to possess firearms, including machine guns and destructive devices, in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime; and conspiracy to provide material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organisation.
According to the indictment, Katungi, together with notorious Bulgaria-based international arms trafficker Peter Dimitrov Mirchev, and Kenyan and Tanzanian nationals, conspired since at least September 2022, to illegally supply military-grade weaponry to Mexican drug cartels, in particular the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), one of Mexico’s most violent and prolific transnational criminal organisations.
It should be noted that Katungi is merely a small fish in this international criminal racket; the big fish is none other than Museveni himself, who uses Katungi as a front to conceal his direct involvement in global crimes that destabilise the world while enriching him.
Katungi has been instrumental in keeping Museveni in power, earning him respect and influence within Museveni’s inner circle.
For example, on July 24, 2017, acting as Museveni’s trusted operative, Katungi convened a secret meeting at a discreet ruling party facility near the UPDF headquarters in Mbuya. The meeting, attended by Museveni’s most loyal staffers, technocrats, and loyalists, was aimed at planning a mobilisation campaign to remove the presidential age limit from the constitution ensuring Museveni could rule for life.
Katungi later vied for a seat in the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) on the NRM ticket but withdrew on Museveni’s advice.
Shortly afterwards, Museveni appointed him head of his criminal enterprises, some of which have since been dismantled by U.S. authorities.
Sources within Museveni’s inner circle indicate that a panicked Museveni is now exploiting every avenue to shield his protégé, Lt. Col. Katungi, from facing American justice.
However, the current state of affairs clearly signals that criminal kingpin Museveni will, in due time, face the long arm of justice as the world watches his criminal empire unravel.