Luyimbazi wants medal for his contribution in Bush War

On a day he describes as a dark Saturday in May 1985, Nicholas Luyimbazi, 54, recalls lifting up his left arm to signal for help as he remained trapped in a pile of dead bodies. He was a lone survivor in what he claims was a summary execution of people the government soldiers thought were National Resistance Army (NRA) guerrilla collaborators in Luweero Triangle.
The slain suspected NRA guerrilla collaborators had been picked from different locations at Kikyusa, Zirobwe and Katikamu Sub-counties in Luweero District by the government soldiers, who had a detachment at Wabusaana, a sub command centre where they always based to launch field operations.

“I would have probably passed on if I had not lifted my arm, signaling for help because I had already lost a lot of blood from the bullet and machete wounds on my body. The blood suddenly stopped coming out when the people who came to my rescue used pieces of cloth to tightly tie around the bleeding wounds,” Luyimbazi narrated during a recent interview with this newspaper.

Narrow escape
The lone survivor of the 22 people arrested by the government soldiers and brutally executed after being accused of being collaborators of the then NRA guerrilla forces, is unhappy that the current regime he helped to come into power has never addressed his plight despite the fact that his colleagues currently in government clearly know what happened.

Luyimbazi, whose right hand is disfigured and bears scars on the shoulder and lower abdomen as a result of the brutal incident, is not happy that his fellow fighters, despite having known his plight, have never considered him for a medal like they have done for many of former guerrilla war fighters.
“I sometimes feel very small among my peers and fellow former Bush War veterans who have received more than one war medals and benefited from the different veterans’ compensation and packages. The story I narrate to my children and many other people outside my own family has no weight if my fellow fighters fail to recognise my efforts,” Luyimbazi says.

His outcry comes a few months after the ruling NRM party commemorated the 33rd Liberation Day which commemorates the day President Museveni took power from the government of Gen Tito Okello Lutwa. The day, which falls on January 26, is celebrated to mark the return of the rule of law and constitutionalism.
Luyimbazi is a resident of Wabusaana Village in Kikyusa Sub-county, Luweero District and father of 10.

Background
Although Luyimbazi cannot figure out the exact date when the incident happened, he says he still remembers it was a Saturday morning during the month of May, 1985.
As a youth, he had been actively involved in many NRA guerrilla activities. He was often sent out to spy and gather information for the guerrilla fighters. Luyimbazi says he was recruited into the guerrilla activities by his own parents and relatives who were at the time working with the rebel forces. He can only recall Afande Stanley as the guerrilla commander in the area at the time the incident happened.
Luyimbazi had just returned from the NRA guerrilla camps based in Kamira Sub-county where they were holed up after retreating from the different battle fronts where they staged ambushes against the government forces.
“The government soldiers, who had camped at Wabusaana, spotted us moving and quickly instructed me to join the more than 20 people they had earlier arrested. My pleas for mercy fell on deaf ears. The more I explained my situation and sickness, the more beatings I got from the charged soldiers,” he narrates.

“They used bayonets to inflict pain on me and later opened fire. We pleaded for mercy as they fired randomly. We fell down as the shooting went on. The soldiers believed we were all dead after the shooting. Among the pile of dead bodies, I managed to survive, but with blood oozing out of the multiple wounds sustained from the gunshots,” Luyimbazi further narrates. He adds: “I realised that I could lift up my left arm to signal for help from passersby. Luckily enough, I was spotted and rescued.”

He says on some occasions, soldiers could descend on Katagwe Village.
“The soldiers instructed all residents to assemble at the camps. Those who were not at the camps were considered guerrilla collaborators and risked their wrath. Those who were lucky made it to the camps, while several others met their death at the hands of the merciless soldiers. They took little time to investigate cases involving the alleged guerrilla collaborators. They were often transferred to their tactical headquarters based at Katikamu Sub-county in Luweero District where the overall commander was a man whom I only remember by one name Ogole [Col John Ogole was commander of UNLA 50th brigade],” he says.

“I have almost nothing to show that indeed the body deformities were as a result of the struggle to liberate Uganda. It is also true that I was not among the leaders and possibly my effort was not very significant to the struggle, but the fact that I escaped the jaws of death by luck, makes me proud. I have a story to tell my children and grandchildren,” Luyimbazi says.

What others say about Luyimbazi’s plight
Sam Ssewaya, 74, the chairperson of War Veterans Association in Kikyusa Sub-county, Luweero District, testifies that Luyimbazi was among the lucky survivors of the brutal acts of the then government forces.
“Luyimbazi was a very young boy when the government soldiers arrested them. I cannot tell the real story because I was not present, but we got to know what really happened. As a leader of the veterans in Kikyusa Sub-county, my powers are very limited, but I also believe he is among our surviving heroes. The bodily scars have a lot to tell about the history of the Bush War struggle,” Ssewaya says.
Idris Ssedunga, the chairperson of Uganda War Veterans Association, says the association has hundreds of civilian war veterans registered from different parts of the country, who are yet to be compensated.

While the Ministry in charge of Luweero Triangle is directly responsible for the welfare of the war veterans, including the gratuity and compensations for hundreds of former combatants, both military and civilians, several of the veterans accuse their leaders of being selective and selfish. “People who never participated in the Bush War struggle have reportedly found their names on the list of veterans and have been compensated. We are very surprised that the ghost veterans are quickly paid while the real veterans, who are of age and now weak, are not considered,” Wilber Sseninde, 62, a resident of Butuntumula Sub-county in Luweero District, told Saturday Monitor in an interview.