Thomas Kwoyelo, a former commander of the Lord's Resistance Army, has applied for amnesty from government.
Kwoyelo was the field operations commander of the LRA at the time of his capture last year. He was much feared in the LRA ranks and was the last rebel commander to move from northern Uganda to Southern Sudan when the UPDF declared a ceasefire in June 2006 to pave the way for peace talks.
In 2007 Kwoyelo was placed on a list of the 35 most wanted people in Uganda presented to the Great Lakes Tripartite Plus Joint Commission. Others on the list were rebel leaders Joseph Kony, Vincent Otti, Dominic Ongwen and Odhiambo Okot.
After his capture in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kwoyelo was charged with kidnap and intent to murder. His case was moved to the War Crimes Court and he was remanded at Luzira Prison.
Nathan Twinomugisha, legal officer at the Amnesty Commission, says Thomas Kwoyelo is repentant and has applied for a pardon from government.
Twinomugisha says he visited Kwoyelo in Luzira yesterday and the process of securing amnesty for him has begun. He says that although the former rebel commander still has a case to answer to court, he qualifies for amnesty because of a legal loophole.
Twinomugisha explains that Parliament was supposed to draw up a list of names of people excluded from any possibility of amnesty, but it has not done so.
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Thomas Kwoyelo's amnesty application has been sent to the Director of Public Prosecution for clearance.
This doesn't mean Kwoyelo's request will automatically be granted.
Stephen Kagoda, the permanent secretary of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, says that cabinet is working on a list of former rebels who cannot be pardoned. He refuses to confirm whether or not Kwoyelo is on the list.
