Patricia Apolot, a prominent Ugandan kickboxer and wife of retired Lieutenant General Peter Elwelu, has dismissed allegations that her husband is forming a rebel group, saying he left their village home for Kampala two weeks ago to spend time in prayer.
According to New Vision, Apolot said her husband’s prolonged periods of prayer were routine, explaining that he sometimes spends one or two weeks in prayer before returning home.
“I told them (army officers that conducted a raid at their home) that my husband left for Kampala two weeks ago, saying he was going to enter into a moment of prayer. This is not new in our home because he sometimes spends a week or even two weeks in prayer,” she said.
Elwelu’s absence has attracted attention amid allegations that he is wanted over claims of forming a rebel group. However, Apolot has rejected suggestions that the retired senior military officer could be involved in plans to take up arms against the government.
“No, not the man I know, not the man I have lived with,” she said when asked whether she believed her husband could have been involved in forming a rebel group.
Apolot, who said she married Elwelu in 2017, described him as a man who had long looked forward to retirement and maintained that he had no intention of engaging in an armed rebellion.
“My husband is innocent and cannot, even for a minute, think of starting a rebellion. He loves Uganda, and his dream is to have a peaceful country,” she said.
Elwelu previously served as Uganda’s Deputy Chief of Defence Forces.
Wife recounts security operation
Apolot also recounted a security operation at their home in Awoja, Soroti District, on Sunday at about 7:30 p.m.
She said security personnel, some dressed in military uniform and others in civilian clothes, questioned her about her husband’s whereabouts before confiscating two of her mobile phones and phones belonging to her sisters.
According to Apolot, she was not physically harmed during the operation. However, she claimed that she and other people at the residence were confined indoors for several days.
She said the operation lasted approximately three hours, after which security personnel remained at the home and restricted their movements.
“We have been indoors until today, when I was allowed to come out and buy food,” she said.
Apolot further denied reports that security personnel had recovered guns and ammunition from the residence, insisting that no weapons were found there.
Soldiers sent on leave
She explained that the soldiers who ordinarily provided security for the family had been sent on leave by Elwelu before his departure for Kampala.
According to Apolot, this was a routine arrangement whenever her husband left home to spend time in prayer.
She also disputed suggestions that their other residence in Anyara, Kalaki District, was associated with rebel activities, saying it had frequently hosted people who gathered for worship.
Apolot’s account presents her husband’s absence as a period of prayer rather than preparation for an armed rebellion. The allegations surrounding Elwelu, however, remain distinct from her denials and account of the events at their home.
