Panda gari: Arrested on the way to school

One of the legacies of the Obote II regime is Panda Gari (get into the vehicle). Male Ugandans were randomly arrested and many were never seen again.
Mike Musoke, a musician with Percussion Discussion and an actor, survived it. In 1982 he was on his way to school at Old Kampala Secondary School when he was arrested.
“I was staying with my parents in Nateete-Busega, at the time. I was old enough to know what was going on. The UNLA soldiers at the time were not only feared but dreaded. They were robbing with impunity, they were behaving like wild animals.
It was a Monday morning on the way to school, with my friend and classmate Henry Kiwanuka that I will never forgot. We used to walk to Busega stage to get a UTC bus to school.
The bus always left Busega at 7am sharp. But that Monday it did not come, we waited until a few minutes to 8am. We decided to walk to school.
We walked through Lunguja and before reaching Mengo market in that small valley called Kikwandwa, we saw the bus coming but it was fully packed.
As we got closer to it we saw several hands through the bus windows signaling us to run but we did not pay attention. The bus suddenly stopped, everything from there happened so fast.
We saw people in combat boots getting out very fast, but it was too late. We started running and the soldiers started running after us shooting, shouting simama, simama, stop, stop! In our school uniforms and with our books, we stopped and they led us to the bus which was already full.
We were made to stand close to the driver, who had a solder next to him holding a pang by his neck. I could see he was shaking on the steering as he drove the Leyland bus.
At Nateete trading centre we found a multitude of people, all of them men and boys. They were seated in the roundabout overflowing into the roads.
We were hit with gun butts as we got off to join those seated. We stayed in Nateete for slightly more than two hours. However, during that time more buses brought more people.
Coffee Marketing Board trucks were brought and we were ordered to board them. From Nateete we took Kibuye direction, and we ended up in Kigo prison.
At Kigo we were ordered to squat in a line as we got off the trucks.
There was a soldier with a stone in his hand and he went around hitting each of use on the head calling us guerillas and thieves. Later, we were taken into cells were we stayed for the night.
It was a cold night in the cells. I used my books as a pillow. During the night people of different faiths were praying in shifts. The next day, around mid-day, we were taken out to have something to eat. It was posho with no sauce cut in a block form. Others ate, I was not in the eating spirit. After eating we were pushed back into the cells.
At around 2pm, we were taken out in an open area within the prison where we were made to line up in a rectangle form.
They brought people who seemed to have been arrested earlier. They had all sorts of wounds, some of them fresh, others walked with broken limbs, and they looked to be in pain.
Each prisoner had an armed soldier beside him. As they walked facing the new arrivals they were to pick out their fellow rebels. I could not afford to look at this man, I focused on a piece of grass on the ground.
Eventually they brought a skinny man with a fresh cut on the back, my friend Henry was standing next to me.
The skinny man passed me and then he pointed at Henry. The soldier pulled him out and pushed him in the middle of the triangle.
I still hear him pleading, calling my name to help him, Nze sirina musango, Mike nyamba (I have committed no offence, Mike help me). I froze, I could not say a thing or make any move. That was the last time I saw him.
Those not picked were sent back to the cells. Shortly after the army left, we were told by the prison warders that we are to be freed shortly.
The same trucks that had brought us came and took us back to Nateete. There were many people jubilating on seeing their loved ones again.
My sister and mother were there to receive me. My mother was in tears as she saw me getting off the truck. After about a week, I went to Henry’s home and told his parents what had happened to him. They tried looking for him in vain.”