No uncoordinated movement of troops, but still worrisome

It is a truism that power lies in the barrel of the gun, however many ballots and parliamentary seats one may have and, as such, our history shows that it is military muscle that determines how political power is exercised.

The unravelling fallout in the senior-most ranks of the armed forces between General David Tinyefuza Sejusa and his peers brings to mind military pivotal moments that have influenced Uganda’s history.

It is a truism that power lies in the barrel of the gun, however many ballots and parliamentary seats one may have and, as such, our history shows that it is military muscle that determines how political power is exercised.

Going back to the 1890s, when the political entity Uganda came into being, it was the Maxim gun of imperialist Britain that, in the final analysis, clinched it. Existent polities like the kingdoms of Buganda and Bunyoro, and all the other political entities, expanded and contracted owing to their military prowess or the lack of it.

The final jigsaw in forming the original Ugandan state came with the (military) defeat of the kings Kabalega and Mwanga in 1899 by British forces, with reinforcements from India, on the battlefield in Lango. Shane Doyle says in ‘Crisis & Decline in Bunyoro’ (James Currey/Fountain Publishers/Ohio University Press) that, “what is most interesting about the conquest is how the Banyoro responded innovatively to invasion by British forces armed with superior weapons.

Kabaleega chose to defend his kingdom by guerrilla warfare, hoping his will to endure was stronger than his invaders.” The two kings had briefly bolstered their fight by allying with rebelling Sudanese troops, but the resistance was broken with the killing of Bilal Amin, the leader of the mutineers, according to historian Samwiri Lwanga Lunyiigo (‘Mwanga II’, Wavah Books, 2011).
Even before British colonial interest, going back 200 years, the military factor was always there. Richard Reid notes in ‘Political Power in Pre-Colonial Buganda’ (James Currey/Fountain Publishers/Ohio University Press) that, “the Ganda fought wars for a number of reasons, with both short- and long-term gain in mind. Warfare is fundamental to the process of state-building, to the material basis of state power and to internal cohesion.

The Ganda had incorporated a strong strand of militarism into their culture by the 19th Century. The use of arms played a critical part in the kingdom’s foundation myths, and participation in military campaigns was a fundamental part of male life.”

Fast-forward to 1966, and the first major fallout in post-Independence Uganda which, inevitably, involved the armed forces. When Prime Minister Obote fell out with President Muteesa, he called in the Army but, as it were, not the Army Commander Brigadier Shaban Opolot, who was loyal to the President/Kabaka.

Instead he used Opolot’s deputy, Colonel Idi Amin, whose loyalty he could count on. That was the first fundamental political change in independent Uganda. The next came when Amin’s army was defeated by the Tanzanian People’s Defence Forces (Jeshi la Wanainchi) and Ugandan exiles. Subsequent political changes in 1979 and 1980 were all military-backed. In mid-1985, Ugandans heard what was to become a most quotable quote. “Those were uncoordinated troop movements”, Vice President Paulo Muwanga said, following a night of incessant shooting in the Kampala suburbs of Mbuya and Bugoloobi.

It turned out that the gunshots presaged a fallout in the Uganda National Liberation Army between Acholi and Langi factions that was to lead to President Obote’s ouster on July 27 by Generals Tito Okello and Bazilio Okello.

Matters military evidently do matter in Uganda, and only a fool would regard them as inconsequential. It is easy to dismiss Gen Sejusa as a rogue officer, but isn’t there more to him and what he is saying than meets the eye? After all he is Coordinator of Intelligence Services. His pronouncements are probably not anywhere as fundamental as the “uncoordinated troop movements” of legend, but then again they are not mere nursery rhymes. Because of our past, Ugandans have learnt not to dismiss issues to do with the Army – especially hostility and discord - with the lightness that some are urging. Time will tell.
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It is tempting to compare Alex Ferguson to Yoweri Museveni, if only because each took up their high offices in 1986, one as President of a Republic, the other as manager of a football club. They share longevity, tenacity, contempt for certain people, equal measures of public admiration and dislike, and some elements of success.

Their longevity – they acceded when Maradona, Tyson, Carl Lewis and Philip Omondi ruled sports; when Samson Kisekka, who would be 100 years old today, was Prime Minister; when Gorbachev, Thatcher and Reagan ruled global politics; when Billy Graham still thundered the Gospel; when Usain Bolt was being born; when Ugandan women had curly perm hair and Ugandan men drove the Nissan Sunny – is legendary. Since one has finally retired, is there any chance that his alter ego will do as well?

dsseppuuya@yahoo.com