Authorities have been looking for three other suspects who have been sent on similar bombing missions in Uganda. Their motives are unclear, however, they can draw a parallel between these attacks and the Islamic State-linked Allied Democratic Forces (ADF). 

Mr Onyango said: “We carried out a controlled detonation of the improvised explosive device consisting of nails, a motorbike battery, a charger and a telephone handset that was to be used in the attack”. 

When the police arrested 28-year-old Kintu Ibrahim, they found a bomb in his rucksack. They suspect he might have had accomplices. The perimeter of the cathedral was cordoned off; sniffer dogs and members of bomb squads inspected the area but could not find any further threats. 

According to evangelical pastor Robert Kayanja: “The terrorist was a few metres from the entrance, but the security forces intervened, and he was arrested before he could enter the church and detonate the bomb”. 

ADF was originally a Ugandan rebel group but was routed more than two decades ago and escaped to the jungles of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where it has since been stationed.