NRM BUSH WAR MEMORIES: I was declared dead on radio, says Col. Kuteesa

The faces of the dead soldiers expressed surprise not fear or agony, as one would expect! It was later while studying Psychology that I learnt that the survival mechanism of a soldier does not allow him to believe he could be the one to bite the bullet.

Each person has that feeling of “not me”. People go to battle to come out alive and the dead enemy soldiers and our own comrades were no exception.

Later as reality dawned on me about the headless comrade, I suddenly developed goose pimples and broke into cold shivers. After that, there were many more ugly incidents, notably the February 1983 Bukalabi ambush where the commander himself, Salim Saleh was injured in both arms. I recount most of the hard battles we fought in my book.

Major success stories

By the end of 1983, we had gained significant territory and were advancing west. In February 1984, we decided to launch an offensive on Masindi Artillery School. I was at the time commander of the first battalion. The operation was under the overall command of Afande Salim Saleh. On February 20, 1983, we launched a very successful attach on Masindi and captured far more weapons than we had bargained for.

Later as the war progressed, we were to register more such successes, but the Masindi one is my most memorable because I was the one directly in command of that operation.

Following the death of Brig. David Oyite Ojok in December 1983, who was a very charismatic officer respected by his troops and even some of us his enemies, we knew the UNLA was in for real trouble.

Declared dead on radio

Assured that we were now a formidable force, Museveni left for Sweden at the beginning of 1985 for a ‘diplomatic offensive’. We continued with the offensive, and in one particular one at a place called Kampomera, I nearly lost my life.

My mission was to capture a 14.5 mm AAC gun inflicting a lot of casualties on us. As we fought on, and I advanced towards the fellow who was firing the gun, I did not realize that my gun had run out of bullets.

As I crawled nearer the AAC fellow, I could see the enemy soldiers guarding the gun start to withdraw. I then shouted ‘charge’ and tried to fire only to hear the firing pin hit an empty chamber.
At that point, I was at the mercy of enemy fire when Jet Mwebaze (RIP), a muscular tall fellow tossed me behind him like a rug. In an instant, the potato mound I was standing on was swept away by the four barrels of my prized AAC.

It is also during that battle that we lost a young man nicknamed ‘double colour’. He was shot crawling towards the prized AAC. Later, his body was beheaded and his head take to Kampala.

Because of our similar light complexion, the jubilant enemies were convinced they had killed Pecos Kutesa. In fact, radios and newspapers in Kampala proclaimed that one notorious rebel, Kutesa, had been killed. The story was sold to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). One can only imagine what Dora my wife who was heavy with child felt when she heard on international radio that I was dead.

That battle was actually commanded by now Lt. Col. Walter Ochola, current LCV chairman of Gulu. We still talk about it each time we meet.

Nairobi ‘pistol talks’