Amin’s army had superior guns but were let down by internal confusion

Continued from last Sunday

I also went back to defend Masindi now. My target was to defend the whole of Bunyoro, from Kafu to Karuma and Hoima. I was defending the region from fleeing soldiers not to loot it.

While in Masindi, a military plane landed at the Officers Mess with people looking for Ali Kizza and me. By that time I was moving with four grenades around my waist following the death of Brigadier Smutts Guweddeko in Wandegeya. I started being very cautious; I was always ready for any eventuality.

I arrested more than 40 people who were terrorising Masindi and kept them at Masindi prisons where the Tanzanians found them and released them. When I got the news that Kampala had fallen, I ordered all the units guarding Bunyoro back to the barracks. However, instead of coming back, they all ran for their dear lives.

I stayed in Masindi with very few soldiers, knowing I was a target. A jeep came to Masindi. The quarter master and Maj Walusimbi tipped me that the jeep was on mission to finish me off. That very evening, I left the barracks and went to my farm within Masindi. I didn’t sleep there. I picked my children from school and we went and slept at Fr Makumbya’s place in Nyamigisa.

The next day, I wrote a letter to the people of Masindi through Wanzala, a businessman in Masindi, informing them to get out of town because I could no longer protect them since I was also a hunted man.

My friend Kizito who had a Honda car helped me escape. The children and the wife went to Duhaga where they stayed for 10 years.

Kizito drove me up to Hoima Police Station first where I left my gun and also secured an identity card identifying me as a pay clerk at the district. From there we drove towards Kampala.

Just before Kiboga, we met vehicles full of people jubilating the fall of Amin. We also got a banana stem and put on the car. At Kasubi, we met the first roadblock. But I managed to go through it, branched off at Nakulabye and connected to Naguru, then branched off at Kireka to avoid the main road. I went through Namugongo up to Misindye until I got to Nagoje, around Mukono.

My place had not been looted yet. The first night I slept on the floor in the sitting room. I was told by the neighbours that the Tanzanians were looking for me and another man called Mayanja who owned a coffee processing plant.

Mayanja was not a soldier like me. The next day I sent for Kikunta, who had a pick-up truck, to take me to Kabembe at my brother, Idi Kalibala’s place, to hide. After two weeks in Kabembe, I sent Kalibala to Nile Mansions to test the waters because they were calling all former soldiers to report there. I told Kalibala if they say it’s okay for me to report then he should come with a special hire to pick me.

Museveni was present. He told Kalibala that I should report that very day, or else what would happen later would be my problem. He came back with a Peugeot 503 and took me to Nile Mansions. The first person I saw there was the UNLA chief of staff, Lt Col David Oyite-Ojok. I went to him and told him I had reported.

He called a one Lt Silver with whom we had been in the Uganda Army before he escaped to join the invading troops. Lt Co Oyite-Ojok told Lt Silver to take me to a Sergeant Major in Nakasero, saying there was no accommodation for me at Nile Mansions. I knew that was the end of me. Lt Silver ordered me to board a Land Rover but he wanted to first see his friend Gyagenda at the Wandegeya flats.

He drank up to 10pm. When we set off I pleaded with him not to take me there as I knew what would happen if he took me to Nakasero. I begged him to hand me over to the Tanzanians at Nile Mansions and he obliged.

The next morning I pleaded with them to take me to where they had kept the rest of the reporting soldiers, which was at Shimon Demonstration School. Unfortunately, the previous evening they had been taken to Makindye Military Barracks and that’s where I was also taken.

After a short stay in Makindye, one morning, someone came from Nile Mansions saying Oyite-Ojok wanted me. When I arrived there, I found Oyite-Ojok having breakfast. I was also given breakfast but that day the eggs tasted bitter because of the fear of what awaited me. When he turned to talk to me after breakfast, he said “Tanzanians are advancing towards Masindi, you have to go with them this very moment”.

Fighting with Tanzanians
I was handed over to a Tanzanian officer and we set off to Hoima where we arrived at night. In the morning I was given a uniform and a gun by a Tanzanian and we advanced to Masindi.

At Isimba, we lost about six soldiers. As we reached Bujenje and approached the killing ground at Lukondwa, I moved to the fore to tell the commander that we were approaching a dangerous place. He didn’t take my warning serious and as I was retreating, we came under attack.

From 4pm till late in the night, we were fighting. The Tanzanians were also very scared with bombs from the Ugandan troops landing near us. But they did not explode as they had no fuses in them. The 37mm guns were anti-aircraft. They were exploding in the air, causing no harm to us. That day we didn’t capture Masindi, until the next morning at around 11am.

We stayed in Masindi for some time. From quartermaster, we got a lot of reinforcements in terms of guns, bullets and dry rations. While there, I went to my farm where I found FRONASA fighters had pitched camp. They had looted it clean. The 400 bags of maize in the store were gone and more than 90 heads of cattle had been eaten.

From Masindi, we proceeded northwards. The Tanzanians wanted to reach Karuma in the night but I was very hesitant. We spent a night a few kilometres to Bweyale and the next morning, around 6am, we set off. At Bweyale, we came under fire and nine Tanzanians lost their lives.

Now I started ferrying the wounded from the frontline to the hospital in Kiryandongo. The two advance tanks which were to clear the way were hit and one caught fire, but we managed to subdue Amin’s soldiers at around 1pm and crossed the bridge.

Our next stop was Corner Kamdini where we camped, preparing to attack Gulu. The attack on Gulu was smooth, we didn’t lose anybody and found a lot of weapons left behind by the fleeing troops.

The reception in Gulu was very good. While there, Gen Tito Okello Lutwa and Oyite-Ojok joined us. Two days after the fall of Gulu, a message came from Entebbe that Maj Gen Davi Msuguri, the overall commander of the TPDF, wanted me. I was given a Colonel to escort me to Entebbe air force base to meet Msuguri, who denied having called for me. He said may be it was Oyite-Ojok.

While in Entebbe, I saw my seven–sitter jeep UZO 739, which I had bought from the Russians, at the air force Officers Mess. That was the last time I saw it. I also saw my Volvo Reg. No. UUU 179, which I had bought from an Indian when he was leaving the country.

We came to Kampala and slept at the Imperial Hotel. I was in room 208 and the Colonel in room 460. In the morning, the Colonel went out to report at Nile Mansions. That’s when I went to the reception and asked the receptionist to change me to room 460.

I also told her to direct anyone looking for me to room 208 and let me know. Around 10am, she called me saying there were people looking for me all dressed in military fatigue, including a Major. As they went to room 208, I ran out of the main hotel building towards the conference centre.

I went straight to the operations officer, a Tanzanian man, and I told him I had been told to report there. But he told me may be it was Tito Okello who wanted me. Tito said he didn’t want to see me. I immediately moved to the lower part of Nile Mansions where the military office was and I handed over their gun and pleaded with them to take me to Luzira Prison where other former Amin’s soldiers were. They drove me to Luzira Upper Prison where the chief warder took me to the “Condemn Section”.

Life in Luzira
I was moved to many sections of the prison. I was first kept in the Condemn Section C, room 25 for some time. From there I was taken to East Wing where they keep people who are not allowed to mix with other prisoners. From East Wing I was taken to Ward 9. It’s where I started tailoring lessons.

While in the Condemn Section, we got fed up and planned an escape. Through a ventilation, we communicated with people in “Kampala” (the area outside the Condemn Section). We knew what we were capable of doing, the only thing missing were guns. Unfortunately, those who came to rescue us got lost. Instead of coming to Upper Prison, they went to Murchison Bay.

With that incident we were taken to Cell Four which is close to the hang room. I stayed in Cell Four for some years until Nasur (Idi Amin’s strong man) was sentenced and brought to that cell. That’s when I was changed to “Kampala” to create room for him.

Another incident was to do with religion. Many former inmates in “Kampala” knew of the religion we formed called Edinni ya Bakaala, and I was the Ssabakaala. This religion became a problem as people who believed in me increased and I was deemed a threat. I was taken back to the Condemn Section.

In prison I met many people, some of them now big shorts in the government. I also learnt things like tailoring and poultry. When I got out of prison on April 27, 1981, I started poultry farming to survive.

Life after Luzira
I had built my house in 1975, and I had bought other properties from the savings I had made while in Khartoum. When I came out of prison, I had to look for what to do and the skills I had acquired in prison helped me to start poultry. I went to my farm in Masindi and started producing maize and cassava. I started supplying the artillery regiment in Masindi.

I got married in 1972 but when I went to prison, my wife went away and left the kids behind. My son who joined the army died in service during the Kony war. He died at the rank of Captain.
If there was no divisionism within Amin’s army, we would have won the war. We were very sure we could win the war because our army was superior with better armament than the Tanzanians. They had the saba-saba but that could not win the infantry war.

This article marks the end of the Kagera War series. We thank all our readers who have been following the series. We also thank the TPDF’s Foreign Liaison and media offices for their support. The Defence attaché at the Tanzanian embassy in Kampala also deserves mention.