Prime
On UPDF’s intelligence failure and Janet Museveni’s opinion
Author: Asuman Bisiika. PHOTO/FILE
What you need to know:
So, if we say there is intelligence failure, what blame do we ascribe to the UPDF’s counter-intelligence structures?
On Friday 16, a group of armed people attacked Mpondwe-Lhubiriha Community Secondary School in Mpondwe Lhubiriha Town Council. They killed dozens of students, the school security guard and other residents from the neighbourhood.
Whereas the UPDF suspected the attackers were rebels of Allied Democratic Forces, Ms Janet Museveni (the minister for Education) made remarks that were interpreted by a section of the media to delink ADF from the attack. She was quoted as saying some stakeholders in the school may have had a hand in the attack to settle a score in a conflict over possession of the school.
With her opinion, the UPDF authorities seemed to have placed the blame of the attack squarely on the wrong shoulders of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF). I am not here to prove who did it or didn’t; or who helped who to do it? But given the proximity of the ADF’s areas of operation to the scene of the attack (and the profile of the patented killings, the UPDF’s position seemed to be plausible.
So, if we go with the UPDF position (placing the blame on the ADF), what then was the problem? What did the UPDF do (or didn’t do) for the ADF to run amok in a shocking way like that? I have an opinion on that: there are gaps in the intelligence that verge on intelligence failure. Yes, there is a failure in collection, analysis and management of actionable intelligence. Kyogedde!
I heard people mention the security infrastructure in the area where the attack took place. People were mentioning the distance between the school and this or that UPDF barracks. People were talking about the distance between the Uganda Police Force unit and the incident area. And needless to say, there are of course ISO personnel stretching to as far as the parish level.
But the people who man the security apparatus don’t seem to be interest in the public security; a mandate for which the people of Uganda pay them. Now there are photos and video clips running riot on social media. On account of these photos and video clips, some people praising Uganda People’s Defence Forces for the quick reaction. A friend of mine said they look old and that “I seem to have seen them before”. Did I say there is a weakness in intelligence? Now, it is natural that the military expects such weaknesses in intelligence, admin and operations. To mitigate those weaknesses, there are other military institutions created for managing and sanctioning such failures. These are the Inspectorate (admin), Military Police (Operations) and Counter Intelligence (Intelligence).
So, if we say there is intelligence failure, what blame do we ascribe to the UPDF’s counter-intelligence structures? Students of the military will have to re-evaluate the importance of administrative supervision and enforcement of the military institutions like the Military Police and Counter-Intelligence. And the UPDF offers those students a case study. If we say there are gaps in the management of intelligence, why hasn’t the counter-intelligence units acted on these gaps?
The farthest UPDF presence is in Bimbaho. Beyond Bimbaho, is thickly forested vegetation on both sides of the Lhubiriha River (which forms the international border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo). That’s to say the DRC’s Virunga National Park is contiguous with Queen Elizabeth National Park of Uganda.
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Last Thursday, Mr George Mayinja (Kasese’s District Education Officer) was arrested by the police to answer questions related to Mpondwe-Lhubiriha Community Secondary School).
Whether the school ownership wrangles had a hand in the incident, I would like to appeal to Mr Museveni to sort weakness in the intelligence services.
Mr Bisiika is the executive editor of the East African Flagpost. [email protected]
