NRM BUSH WAR MEMORIES: Otafiire; the bush mobiliser

Toughest battle

We fought many tough battles. I cannot underrate any armed engagement. Every battle has its dangerous moments. What you may call light is what turns out to be most dangerous.

What you call heavy is when most people survive. Whichever battle we fought, some people would die on either side and all these were Ugandans.

In a civil war, there can’t be moments of triumph because you are killing your own people. Those who are killed are Ugandans. Yes, you have won because you were fighting for ideas, but the people you have killed are your own who were also fighting for their ideas. Those who died during the 1981-86 bush war were Ugandans being used by bad ideas. If there were a way of avoiding killing or hurting them, then that would have been the most welcome thing to do. So, I have never glorified killing people because all these were Ugandans pursuing bad ideas.

Looking back

I always had hope. There was no time when I felt discouraged. There was a time especially when we had no food and we would see soldiers starving because they could not handle meat, then I would feel sad.

I, however, knew we were going to win. All the problems we faced were issues incidental to any war. Normally when you struggle, you aim for certain objectives. If you achieve seven out of ten objectives, then you will have done very well because very few people achieve that. The situation never remains static. As you struggle to achieve your objectives, there are changes in the world, which alter your programme.

Certain objectives become unachievable because of changing circumstances. So, we have achieved quite a lot of what we had intended. But at the same time, there are certain things we have not achieved because of extenuating circumstances. We expected to make money out of coffee, but international prices went down. We expected to provide free secondary school education and the prices of fuel went up.

There are things we have achieved which are irreversible, but there are other things that we wanted to achieve and could not. That is normal.

Accomplishments

Our greatest achievement is security and freedom to air out views, opinions and to participate in democracy. Yes, the northern conflict is still going on, but it is there not because of government but due to banditry. There is no war in northern Uganda. You do not fight government by killing unarmed people in displaced camps.

To wage a war, you have to fight what we call the legitimate targets, which are the machinery of the government, notably the army. You don’t kill people in camps who have nothing to do with the government. That is not a war but banditry which is a criminal activity. War is not about attacking children, women and sick people in villages and displaced camps. That is criminal activity.

There is also freedom to air out views and opinions and participate in democratic elections. I have heard people accusing this government of harassing the opposition.
It is not, and it has never been, government policy to beat up opposition members. If you get fellows in an encounter and they fight, you can’t blame government.

For instance, if we wanted to beat up Parliamentary Advocacy Forum (pafo) members in Jinja, we would have used the arms of government, which is the police or the army.

But here you had some excited fellows who support the Movement and others who support pafo who engaged in some unlawful activity. You can’t say that was government. If we used the coercive arms of government, then you would be justified to say pafo was beaten. But if you find pro-Museveni and anti-Museveni fellows fighting, then all of them are actually breaking the law and they should all be arrested.