Remembering ADF rebels first attack on Uganda

On Wednesday November 13, 1996, a group of unknown armed rebels attacked Uganda from Zaire (now DR Congo). I had been in Kasese for two weeks and was returning to Rwanda that day.

In the first wave of the dawn attack, the rebels overrun Mpondwe Customs Post, the border town known by the locals as Kastamu (a corruption of customs). By 10am, the rebels had taken over Bwera township (locally known as Mpondwe).

The country, which had just gone through relatively peaceful presidential and parliamentary elections, was taken by surprise.

By the end of the day, no one had put a name to these rebels, something that attracted unnecessary speculations.
Initial media reports said they were National Army for the Liberation of Uganda (Nalu), which had hitherto ceased operations after the death of its leader Amon Bazira (former MP for Kasese West, 1981-1985).

Matters were not helped by the publication of a letter to the editor by someone calling himself Salim who claimed that it was indeed Nalu that had attacked Uganda. I later found out the true identity of the Salim; but for the glue that binds Uganda together, the true identity of Salim shall remain undisclosed.

How day unfolded
For yours truly, November 13, 1996, was an ordinary day. Save for the long journey back to Rwanda that lay ahead, there was nothing unusual.
By 7.30am, I was at the bus terminal awaiting departure at 8am. For one reason or another, the bus didn’t set off at 8am.

At 8.30am, there was some anxiety at the bus terminal as all of a sudden people with huge luggage alighted from vehicles.

That didn’t surprise me because Wednesday and Saturday were Kasese Town’s market days for Congolese merchandise (bought from Congo on Tuesday and Friday).

Then this particular pickup truck came to the bus terminal with people shouting ‘vita, vita’ (war, war). I got out of the bus and asked around.
“Zaire imetuvamia (Zaire has attacked us)”, a lady told me.

I didn’t know what to make of this information. I ran to the post office where I placed a lengthy phone call to Rwanda. My supervisor in Kigali advised me to stay put for further instructions.
“You could be of help to us there,” he said. I made another call to Richard Olal Tebere (RIP), then news editor of The Monitor.

I told Tebere that Zaire had invaded Uganda, but his response showed no interest in what I told him.

“Asuman, Zaire cannot attack Uganda. By the way, there has not been a war between these two countries for a long time. Those must be Ugandan rebels. But file a story, we will use it,” he said.

The effects
Within a week, almost the entire Kasese District had been affected; even Kiburara. Although the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) took over Bwera Town, the UPDF dug in and held out at the head quarters of the 21 Battalion in the compound of Bwera Sub-county.

Their colleagues at the tactical headquarters of the 21 Battalion at the former Bukonzo County headquarters made a tactical withdrawal. The ADF fell for the trap and took over the base.

They would later suffer heavy casualties when they were bombed out of the place by the UPDF two days later.

In my estimation, this was the first ADF beating at the hands of the UPDF. And needless to say, it impacted on the operational outlook of the rebels: they became hostile to the population and started killing civilians.

In the sub-counties bordering DRC like Karambi and Kittolhu, the ADF was comfortable enough to try to create what looked like a local council system. Although the people were a bit reluctant to embrace the rebels, they organised some kind of elections.

The November 13 attack had been an ill-timed one for ADF. The story is that president Mobutu Sese Seko of Zaire had become weary of the ADF in his country because President Museveni was putting a lot of pressure on him.

So, the ADF was given options: they either attacked Uganda or leave the country all together. They are said to have chosen to attack, rather hurriedly.

Unfortunately for them, the day they chose to attack, River Lhubiriha (marks the Uganda-DRC border at Mpondwe Border Post) had over flooded and burst its banks.

With the river swollen, the rebels chose to cross into Uganda using the bridge at the official crossing post. Their initial plan was to cross through Mirami and Kittoma.

The ADF’s objective was to make a quick incursion and take Kasese Town and its airfield where military equipment would be flown in from rebel-friendly countries in the region.

Kasese security team
As of November 13, 1996, the Kasese District security team was composed of Ms Lillian Achan Okech, the RDC; Lt Vincent Bekunda (now RISO Gulu) was the DISO; and SP Richard Edyegu (now director of logistics at police headquarters) was the DPC.

The district CID officer was D/SP Moses Otwili (RIP) while the district special branch officer was D/ASP Israel Mboine (RIP). The 322 Brigade was commanded by Lt Col Skaj Tumusime.

The UPDF’s offensive against the ADF was quick. Taking advantage of the ADF’s lack of grounding (or disinterest) in guerrilla warfare, the UPDF made immediate gains.

The ADF had made the mistake of thinking they could hold out on the UPDF in pitched battles. But within three weeks, the ADF was on the backfoot and most of their fighters had lost contact with command and control. The population also started killing them.

The assignment to fight the ADF fell on the shoulders of then Lt Col Geofrey Muhesi (former commandant of the Presidential Protection Unit). I think that meant he replaced Lt Col Skaj Tumusime to take over command of the 322 Brigade. Muheesi had commanded counter insurgence operations in Teso sub-region.

The overall command was given to Col Jet Mwebaze (RIP) who pitched his command post at Katunguuru, shadowing Kazinga Bridge. There had been rumours that the ADF had planned to blow up the bridge to deny the UPDF a supply route.

The assault unit was the 21 Battalion commanded by Maj Kakari. They were later re-enforced by the battled-hardened ‘Sad Battalion’ (otherwise 3rd Battalion, also popularly known as Mwana Mwana) commanded by Maj Sula Semakula (RIP).

‘Sad Battalion’ was brought in from Kitgum where it had been battling the LRA rebellion.

By mid-December 1996, the ADF had almost been wiped out of the lower lands of Kasese. But they had abducted people who they conscripted into their ranks (in Uganda and DR Congo) and were holding the mountain residents hostage.

In January 1997, Kasese was safe enough for President Museveni to visit Mpondwe Border Post where the ADF had crossed.

After this defeat, the ADF resorted to hit and run tactics accompanied by abduction of civilians. The population became hostile to the ADF. Army veterans were rallied and a local group named Local Defence Unit was enlisted. In response, the ADF resorted to brutal killings of locals.

They would pick someone to use as a guide, and after guiding them to their destination, that person would be hacked to death.

Many families in Kasese were affected by the ADF, but the most outrageous incidents were the abduction of students from St John the Evangelist Minor Seminary at Kiburara, the hacking to death of 36 people who had sought refuge in the bushes in Kyalhumba Sub-county and the burning of students of Kichwamba Technical College in Fort Portal.

ADF leadership

Mr Jamil Mukulu, said to be the ADF’s supreme leader, is in custody and facing charges of treason. It is tempting to interpret Mr Jamil Mukulu’s arrest as marking the end of ADF.

ADF had three streams in their command and operational structures; first, the Rwenzururu Rebellion Veterans who had fought under Nalu; secondly, the international Jihadists and lastly the local Islamist boys, also called Special Brigade, who were not allied to the Rwenzururu veterans.

Mr Fenehasi Kisokeranio was a veteran of the 1960s Rwenzururu rebellion. After the August 1982 end of the Rwenzururu rebellion, it is said that he was promised to be appointed as the chairman of Kasese District Land Board.

But the appointment didn’t come through. He became disgruntled because he was not “resettled appropriately”.

After the collapse of the Obote II government in 1985, Mr Amon Bazira, the former Kasese West UPC MP, formed the National Army for the Liberation of Uganda (Nalu). He rallied the Rwenzururu rebellion veterans.

Bazira’s rebellion idea fell in the waiting hands of Kisokeranio (Bazira and Kisokeranio were known to each other personally).

Bazira was later killed in Nairobi and his forces became leaderless until the ADF appeared on the scene. ADF joined hands with the remnants of Nalu. Kisokeranio was the commander of the Nalu component of ADF, but he has since denounced rebellion and was resettled in Kampala.

One of the commanders of the Special Brigade was a one Hamza Ibn Jibril, alias Mbayirindi. His childhood name was Bawhere Kuule. He was killed in a CMI operation commanded by Lt (now Lt Col) Paul Muwonge in 2003.

The command and control of the ADF was managed by Jamil Mukulu, Abdalha Kabanda and Kisokeranio in that hierarchy. Kabanda, who trained in Afghanistan, was a boy from Bwera with a strong jihadist outlook.