Museveni rebels were too smart for us – Ex-UNLA soldier

Last week on January 26, Ugandans marked 31 years since the National Resistance Army/Movement (NRA/M) took power after defeating the Uganda National Liberation Army of Milton Obote and Tito Okello. The story since then has been told by the victors. But what is the story of the defeated? In the second part of the six-part series, ex-UNLA servicemen recount their experiences fighting against Museveni’s NRA rebels in the bushes of Luweero Triangle.

I was recruited in Nyamitanga, Mbarara in 1979 by Tanzanian forces that had come to help exiled Ugandans overthrow the dictatorial regime of Idi Amin Dada.

After being recruited, I was taken to Kakoba (Mbarara) for training. The training did not take long and we were moved to Mubende District to join the liberation war, which was gaining momentum.

Chefe Ali, a tall and reserved man, led our group. However, we did not stay there for long; we moved to Kabamba from where we were given army numbers.
Mine was UD 3729. I was a private in the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA) because I had only studied up to Primary Seven.
In 1980 I was then sent to Nakasongola military training wing where we trained afresh for nine months.

Lt Col Peter Rwakipesire, an astute experienced Tanzanian soldier, was in charge of that training wing.

After we were passed out we were distributed to different parts of the country. I was sent to the 22nd battalion in Moroto District under the infantry. We rarely stayed in the barracks.
We were always in the field carrying out operations. We would go to Amudat, Kaabong and Nakapiripirit fighting cattle rustlers from Kenya and Amin soldiers who had fled and were wandering in the wilderness with their guns.

War begins
However, in early 1981, information reached us that Yoweri Museveni, who had just lost an election, had gone to the bush and that he was recruiting fighters to join his National Resistance Army rebellion. Some of the UNLA soldiers joined him. The recruitment was so clandestine. But nobody came to ask me to join the rebels.

In 1982 as the rebels intensified their attacks, I was transferred to the 9th battalion in Lubiri, Kampala.

With the fresh rebel activity outbreak, it meant there was a lot of work on our hands.
Our battalion, like many others, also had the responsibility of fighting NRA rebels.

I was then sent to Mpooma Satellite in Mukono where we would carry out operations against rebels in Mukono, Kayunga, Wakiso and Mityana areas.

The situation on ground was very tricky. Museveni’s men were very elusive. We would get intelligence information that they were in a certain place, but on reaching there we would not see anybody. You would find vehicles that have been hit and dead bodies but you would not see the rebels.

We used to move in a platoon (a group of up to 45 soldiers). We would go to an area, acting on intelligence reports, but still fail to trace the rebels. But after we had left you would hear that the rebels have hit vehicles in the same place.
By this time, Oyite-Ojok was the Chief of Staff and Tito Okello Lutwa was the commander of the army. My most memorable first encounter was a battle in a forest in Semuto, Nakaseke District.

I do not remember the exact day but all I know is that we had landed into the rebels’ ambush and the exchange was serious. Although we hit some of Museveni’s men, we also lost a good number of soldiers.

They had some few good weapons and they used them very effectively. The battle was intense but short. Museveni men soon disappeared; they always avoided long encounters, maybe because they had few fighters and limited weaponry.

Clandestine moves
They were also very good at hiding and laying ambushes. They knew we were using vehicles in operations so they would lay ambushes at sloping sections of a road, and then hit the vehicle with RPGs, bullets and grenades.

In one of the longest encounters on Mityana Road when we fought for three days, I was hit by a bullet on the arm, but it never penetrated deep into the muscle (it left a scar).

This time we were largely chasing after the rebels. So, the exchange was from a distance and that is why when they shot my arm, the bullet never penetrated deep into the muscle. I did not leave the battlefield to go and get treatment.

It was also in this battle that we were able to see how these rebels looked like. Museveni’s men, although dressed like market vendors, they were better trained than us (government army).

Of course, some of them had defected from government army. People such as (Salim) Saleh, Chefe Ali, Fred Rwigyema, and (Fred) Rubereza, who defected from UNLA to command the rebel activity, had trained in Mozambique and Moduli in Tanzania.

They were well-organised people in their encounters and exhibited a high degree of disciplined.

They would not move anyhow. They knew how to hide and they would vanish in no moment soon after launching an attack. We found it quite difficult to deal with them.

Museveni’s people would not fire bullets anyhow; they would hardly return fire. Most of the times they relied on ambushes as they stayed near water bodies such as rivers and valleys.

The biggest difficulty we encountered is that Museveni and his men were very cunning. They befriended local people in the areas they were based. Locals gave them food and intelligence information.

For us we were harsh, we mistreated local people and they shunned us as a result, they were not giving us information.

Panic mode sets in
At some point the government made a very big blunder when it brought in hundreds of ill-trained fighters. They were referred to as Not Yet Approved (NYA).

They were like the current crime preventers. They were mobilised from northern region and trained for a short time and sent on to the battlefield.

Intelligence reports said we did not have enough soldiers as all those from the western part of the country were being seen as pro rebels.

These new soldiers died like flies in the battlefield. The army was falling apart due to tribal politics; we (from western Uganda) were being seen as traitors.

It is from these tribal conflicts that I was together with 12 colleagues arrested while on operation in Mpoma.

I do not remember the commander who arrested us, but we were taken to Makindye barracks in 1984 and detained in the dungeon. Many soldiers were disappearing from Makindye never to be seen again.

However, I was lucky to survive. I was helped to escape at around 3am by a soldier who was manning the entrance of the dungeon. After sneaking out of the barracks, I managed to make it to my brother’s place in Nsambya.

My brother, who had been working with the railways, gave me a shirt and trouser. I removed the uniform and dumped it in the water channel. We had been disarmed while being arrested, so I never had a gun.

With the help of my brother, I travelled home on a train going to Kasese and I sat in the engine area to elude those who were checking passengers.

There were many roadblocks along the way manned by the army who would execute anybody on any slight suspicion that he was a rebel or had links with rebels.

It was a tough experience for me travelling from Kampala to Kabogore (Kazo in Kiruhura District) in the engine area which was very hot and noisy.

That noise created a serious effect on my health for a long time. But I thank God that I was not executed in the barracks and along the way back home. I have since been at home, working to support myself and my family.

I have never received any retirement package from government. We registered at the district offices and provided our service and bank details but we have never received anything (gratuity).