Ugandan security agencies have seized a collection of personal archives belonging to the late Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) leader, Dr. John Garang de Mabior, and arrested two individuals connected to the attempted shipment of the documents out of the country.
The documents were intercepted at Entebbe International Airport on August 29 as they were destined for the Thabo Mbeki Foundation in South Africa, according to police and security sources. The foundation, started by former South African President Thabo Mbeki, aims to preserve African heritage and foster dialogue.
Following the seizure, security personnel traced the documents to a residence in the Muyenga area of Kampala. There, they arrested a British-German national and a Ugandan citizen. The security team searched the home and confiscated electronic devices, including mobile phones and laptops. The passport of the British-German national was also seized.
The two individuals were detained overnight at a security facility before being released after they declined to record statements without their lawyers present, the Ugandan Daily Montor reported.
Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesman Patrick Onyango confirmed the seizure and arrests.
“It is true. The documents were seized at Entebbe International Airport by security [personnel] as they were destined for South Africa,” SSP Onyango said on September 26. “They [security personnel] established that they originated from Muyenga, so they visited the place. Kabalagala Police Station has opened a general inquiry file to establish how a German national came into possession of those documents.”
Onyango stated that the two suspects were released on police bond as investigations continue. He added that the inquiry is in its initial stages, with teams examining the documents “to establish a range of suspected criminality.”
According to the Daily Monitor, when the duo reported to the Kabalagala Police Station as ordered, they were interrogated for hours by a joint security team. The suspects reportedly presented letters from Mr. Mabior Garang, the son of Dr. Garang, authorizing them to ship the documents to the Thabo Mbeki Foundation.
It is alleged that the archives were in the possession of Mabior Garang until 2013 when he left Uganda. He entrusted them to a custodian, who later facilitated the planned transfer to the foundation. Security agents were not satisfied with this explanation and demanded the passwords to the suspects’ electronic devices for a forensic search to expedite the investigation and their release.
The suspects complied and were released again with a promise that their property would be returned once investigations were concluded. However, their electronic devices and other items were not returned.
This failure to return the property prompted an intervention by Mabior Garang. On September 16, he contacted Brigadier Abdul Rugumayo, the Deputy Commander of Defence Intelligence and Security, seeking help to recover the items.
Mabior Garang’s reaction
For his part, Mabior Garang de Mabior, the eldest son of the late SPLA leader, said the Ugandan security agencies themselves originally gave him the archives.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Sunday, Mabior said the documents were in his possession until 2013. He explained that his father had a strong relationship with Uganda and was provided with a house by Ugandan security for his visits.
“The late Dr. John had good relations with Uganda and had a house given to him by the security of Uganda to accommodate him whenever he travelled to Uganda,” Mabior said. “After he died, those archives remained in that house and the security of Uganda started to close that and they were wondering where to put those archives, so they gave me those things.”
He stated that the Ugandan authorities formally gave him the archives in 2013. When he later left the country, he left them with a custodian.
“They were with me and when I left Uganda, I left them with somebody when I joined SPLM-IO and later left SPLM-IO,” he said. “So now I am in the process of registering Dr. John Garang Foundation in Juba and I met President Kiir to endorse the Foundation which he did. The aim is to preserve the archive.”
Mabior said he arranged for the Thabo Mbeki Foundation to temporarily hold the archives until his own foundation was fully established.
“Thabo Mbeki Foundation agreed to help Dr. John Garang Foundation to preserve those records so that they don’t be spoiled or eaten by termite and those people were at the airport when they were arrested for investigation,” he said. “But I wonder why investigations and the security of Uganda is aware of those records? These are the same people who were having those documents.”
He expressed frustration over the arrests and the seizure.
“I even don’t know why they arrested those people who are transporting those things on my behalf? There is no case there because those people arrested are innocent,” Mabior said. “The documents were first with security and they are the ones who gave me those records because they were with them from the beginning and now they are saying they are investigating. I wonder what is happening.”
When asked why he did not initially take the documents to the South Sudanese government, Mabior said he was with the opposition SPLM-IO at the time and could not communicate with the Juba government. He also questioned the government’s current ability to preserve the historical records.
“Even those things and records of the liberation struggle that are in South Sudan I am not sure if they are reserved, so since the president has endorsed the Foundation, we want to preserve them under the Dr. John Garang Foundation,” he said.
He described the archives as containing a wide range of historical materials, including his father’s diaries, lectures, messages to SPLA units, recorded speeches, and correspondence with NGOs and SPLA members. This includes documents related to internal conflicts, such as the 1991 split when Dr. Riek Machar defected.
“Some of the documents are reports on some of the battles during the war, so these are different records and letters and they used to be cassette tapes are in Nairobi,” he said. “So I don’t know why this thing is being made a big thing in Uganda for me to go and handle the issue. Uganda is the one causing this confusion.”
Mabior said he has since spoken to Ugandan police intelligence in an attempt to resolve the matter.
Dr. John Garang, a key figure in the fight for South Sudan’s independence, died in a helicopter crash in Uganda on July 30, 2005, shortly after a meeting with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.