• Explosive materials obtained from Afghanistan.....

A key suspect in the July 11 bombings in Kampala warned his mother to stay away from the city centre, almost a month before the deadly blasts, emerging details indicate. On June 10, 2010, sources close to the investigation say, Isa Senkumba, one of the key suspects now in custody, reached out to his mother by telephone and told her to stay away from the city. “Something terrible is about to happen and I don’t want you to go there (Kampala),” Senkumba reportedly told his mother from his Nairobi base, according to our sources close to the FBI-led investigations.

It was the first time the mother, whose names we cannot disclose for security reasons, was hearing from the son since 2006 when he left for Nairobi. According our sources, the mother reportedly probed Senkumba on what he meant by “something terrible” but he refused to give a clear answer. The closest he came to substantiating on his statement is when he told her that it would have so many consequences.

Investigators have been able to reconstruct this conversation after interrogating Senkumba twice over the last couple of weeks. Intelligence sources have told us that in complex investigations like this one, even information about what appears like an obscure phone conversation could provide useful leads. Describing his conversation with his mother, Senkumba has told investigators that his mother was happy and shocked. She wanted to know what had taken her son to Kenya and why it had taken so long for him to get in touch. She also put it to him that she had heard, from some of her son’s former associates, that he had joined radical Muslims who were inculcating into him a “jihadist heart”.
Our sources have told us that Senkumba reportedly evaded most of his mother’s questions and instead wanted to know how his siblings were. In five minutes, the conversation was over, our sources said.

Long before Senkumba left for Nairobi, the sources added, the mother had expressed discomfort with his association with a group of radical Muslims at Shuduku mosque in Kisenyi, Mengo. Beyond praying the usual five times a day, Senkumba and his associates spent extended hours in the mosque, listening to sermons admonishing non-Islamic practices. During one of the interrogation sessions, he spoke about his deep rooted Islamic faith with relish. In fact, at one point during the interrogation, he requested for a break so that he could pray and for 30 minutes he prayed.
Somalia training

In January 2010, Senkumba sneaked into Somalia from Kenya where he did some training in assembling and detonating bombs, he reportedly told investigators. The short training routines were conducted by a leader of Al-Shabaab, Sheik Abdul Razak, in Bulahawa Camp in Mogadishu.
Senkumba further told investigators that during the training they were shown how a mobile phone, a pen and a syringe could be turned into an explosive device.
The training, according to Senkumba, was attended by more than 20 Ugandan youths, all Muslim. Some of these youth are believed to be still in Somalia. He described the training as hectic, involving both physical and theological exercises.
The theological exercise revolves around the indoctrination of the trainees, who are made to believe they are about to do a noble duty. At the end of the training, they were handed down “the Al- Shabaab Commandments” that govern bomb missions carried out by an Al-Shabaab suicide bomber.
The major commandment which Senkumba revealed is that a suicide bomber should never retreat when cornered by the enemy.  
Meanwhile, Senkumba told investigators that the TNT explosive powder used to fuel up bombs was procured from the Taliban in Afghanistan through Somalia. From Somalia, it was moved in bits to Kenya and then to Uganda via Lake Victoria.

The powder, which requires careful handling, is normally a preserve of weapon manufacturing companies.
Our sources have told us that Senkumba is being handled gently because of the useful information he has provided. His character has however intrigued the investigators. We have been told that when he decides to let out information, he does it with gusto but when he chooses to keep quiet, it is hard for any one to get him to talk.
This week investigators are due to interrogate another key suspect, Muhammed Abdulaziz, the Yemeni suspected to have masterminded the July 11 bombings. Abdulaziz was arrested last week in Mbale.

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