Army Generals tipped for war against terrorists

The UPDF High Command is in discussion on who among the senior commanders should be sent to support an onslaught against the Somali militants if the African Union gives them the mandate to open a full scale war against al Shabaab terrorists.

Among the commanders suggested are battle hardened and no-nonsense Brigadiers Kasirye Ggwanga and Elly Kayanja but sources said their names were “just among the options.”

“I haven’t got any communication to that effect ,” said the army spokesman, Lt. Col. Felix Kulayigye, adding, “However, in army whether you are senior or old, when an order comes, you obey.”

Sources said the mood in the High Command is that the al Shabaab who recently claimed responsibility for the bomb attacks in Kampala that killed more than 80 people and injured over 50 others, should be subjected to deterrent military fire in Somalia as the security organs beef-up surveillance locally to guard against any future attacks.

Sources who declined to be named because they are not the official spokespersons of the army said that the decision to deploy additional commanders has not been taken yet and President Yoweri Museveni will make the ultimate choice.

Col. Kulayigye said yesterday that regardless of whom the President chooses to command the war against al Shabaab terrorists in Somalia, the UPDF was ready to perform its duties under the Amisom.

Both Brigadiers Ggwanga and Kayanja are known commanders who contributed to the NRA bush struggle with Brig. Kayanja rising to prominence after he led the Operation Wembley which dealt a fatal blow to armed gangsters who had caused mayhem in Kampala and other parts of the country.

Meanwhile, the army yesterday said it has the capacity to decisively deal with the Somalia-based terrorists once the African Union changes the Amisom mandate in the war torn Somalia.

“Once the mandate changes to strict peace enforcement then it means you go on offensive against whoever does not want peace with the transitional freedom government and we are ready for that,” said Lt. Col. Felix Kulayigye.

For now, Col. Kulayigye said, the UPDF in Somalia would not attack the al Shabaab unless provoked. “We can’t attack them now because the mandate does not allow us and we will not breach the AU mandate,” he said but added: “Once the rules of engagement change, we shall not wait.”

The al Shabaab attack on crowds glued on TV screens watching World Cup finals at the Rugby Club in Lugogo and the Ethiopian Restaurant in Kabalagala has inflamed emotions in the country against the terrorists with the majority now supporting the UPDF engagement in Somalia.

President Museveni told the media on Wednesday that the army would go on offensive and look for all those who bombed and killed civilians in Kampala.

“We were just doing our small mandate…now we are taking interest. It was a very big mistake on their side,” Mr Museveni said. His comments were understood to mean that the UPDF troops now in Somalia would go on offensive immediately but the army spokesman yesterday said the Commander-in-Chief would first mobilise the support of Inter Governmental Authority on Development (Igad).

“The President proposed to them [Igad] to mobilise 2,000 more troops,” Col. Kulayigye said, “ It’s supposed to be the collective effort of Igad and not necessarily that the 2,000 troops will come from us.”

But if Igad asks UPDF to deploy, Lt. Col. Kulayigye said, then the army would respond because it was ready to fulfill any mandate given to it.
The army also told Sunday Monitor that the AU summit that starts in Kampala tomorrow could also be challenged on why they have not mobilised the additional 2,000 troops that were supposed to have been deployed in Somalia.

The AU was supposed to contribute troops to keep peace in Somalia but so far only Uganda has contributed the largest force supported by Burundi.