Prominent leaders and elders in the Iteso community have condemned former state minister for Works Musa Ecweru over threats to have retired Lt Gen Peter Elwelu killed if he is cornered by security forces.Yesterday, Thursday, Ecweru, a former Amuria County MP and commander of the disbanded Arrow Boys militia, warned Elwelu to surrender to security authorities within 24 hours or risk being killed if he was cornered. He said he would not allow anyone to undermine the peace achieved in the Teso sub-region.Ecweru called on Elwelu to abandon any alleged plans to destabilise the region and surrender himself to Soroti Catholic Diocese Bishop Joseph Oliach Eciru. He warned that any attempt to plunge Teso into instability would be a grave mistake that the retired general would regret.Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba has accused Elwelu, the former deputy army chief, of plotting a coup against his father’s National Resistance Movement (NRM) government.However, elders in Teso have accused Ecweru of escalating tensions and attempting to assume the role of established security institutions. They have urged him to withdraw his remarks and allow security agencies to investigate the allegations against Elwelu.The elders warned that inflammatory statements could undermine efforts to establish the truth and destabilise a region that has endured decades of insecurity.Former Uganda ambassador to Nigeria Nelson Ocheger dismissed suggestions of rising tensions in Teso, accusing Ecweru of unnecessarily invoking the former Arrow Boys militia in a sensitive security matter that falls within the mandate of security agencies.Ocheger said he had returned from Teso on Tuesday and found no evidence of tension in the region. He suggested that Ecweru’s remarks were politically motivated and cautioned against exploiting former Arrow Boys, whom he described as vulnerable people who had previously been used and subsequently abandoned.He urged the public to allow the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) to conduct its investigations and account to the country, warning that public statements should not prejudice the process or portray Elwelu as guilty before the facts are established.Ocheger maintained that the military was capable of handling the matter professionally and should be allowed to discharge its mandate without interference from individuals. He also rejected suggestions that former Arrow Boys should be recruited or mobilised to address the situation, arguing that such an approach would complicate rather than resolve the matter.He cautioned politicians against exploiting sensitive security developments for political gain, citing Teso’s painful history of armed conflict, which devastated communities, claimed lives and destroyed property and government infrastructure.Ocheger insisted that anyone suspected of committing a criminal or civil offence should be subjected to due process rather than public condemnation or threats.Another critic, Philip Engaru, a mechanical engineer based in Turin, Italy, and a native of Obalanga in Kapelebyong district, described Ecweru’s intervention as opportunistic and urged the people of Teso to disregard his remarks.Engaru questioned the allegations against Elwelu, arguing that the retired general had served under the ruling NRM and had not attempted to launch a rebellion during his military career. He contrasted Elwelu’s military history with Ecweru’s involvement in armed conflict, questioning the former minister’s moral authority to portray the retired general as a rebel.Engaru challenged Ecweru’s accusations, noting that Elwelu had joined the National Resistance Army (NRA), while Ecweru had fought against it.Charles Opolot, a former parliamentary candidate for Kumi County, said Ecweru’s remarks had fundamentally changed his perception of the former minister.Opolot questioned why Ecweru appeared willing to mobilise former Arrow Boys, arguing that such statements suggested a lack of confidence in the UPDF and police to handle the situation. He said security matters should be left to institutions legally mandated to investigate threats and maintain law and order.He also challenged Ecweru’s apparent attempt to speak on behalf of the entire Iteso community, saying he had no mandate to present himself as its spokesperson.Meanwhile, Muhoozi on Tuesday announced on social media that he had stripped Elwelu of his military ranks and demoted him to the rank of Private.In a post on his official X account, Muhoozi described Elwelu as a traitor and declared that he had been stripped of his ranks. He also claimed that security forces had arrested more than 20 soldiers who had previously served under Elwelu, adding that the detainees were cooperating with investigators.Muhoozi further alleged that the soldiers had implicated the retired general, although he did not disclose their identities, the circumstances of their arrest or the specific offences under investigation.In a separate post, Muhoozi claimed that Elwelu’s wife had also been arrested over alleged domestic abuse but provided no further details to substantiate the allegation.Elwelu has not publicly responded to the claims against him. However, his relatives have reportedly said he went into hiding shortly after the elections over fears for his personal safety.The developments have raised questions about the handling of the allegations against the retired general, particularly public declarations by senior figures in the security establishment before investigations have been concluded.The post Ex-minister Ecweru blasted over Elwelu killing threats appeared first on The Observer Media Ltd.