How Maj Gen James Kazini Saved Gen Edward Kale Kayihura's Life

How Maj Gen James Kazini Saved Gen Edward Kale Kayihura From Death In Congo 

Last week I briefly narrated my two very close encounters with Gen Edward Kale Kayihura and revealed how we interacted closely for sometime both at parliament and state house Entebbe but I did not explore the details.

My first encounter with KK was at parliamentary buildings at party that is usually stages for MPs after president museveni’s annual state of the nation address. I bumped into him amidst a crowd of members of parliament and we discussed at length about a wide range of issues.

Even the few interruptions of people who wanted to greet him never affected my time with him. For instance Prof Mondo Kagonyera came briefly and greeted us (me and KK) and asked me why The Redpepper Newspaper (where I was political editor at the time) had written about the small whooper of his friend Prof Tarsis Kabwegyere.

We had a very hearty laugh and Kagonyera left me with Kayihura still engrossed about the various political issues that prevailed in the country at that time.

At that time Joseph Kony was almost completely defeated having fled to Garamba forest, and I told the general that Uganda was now facing a law and order situation since the civil war seems to have ended.

My point to him was that since the war had ended, the law and order situation meant that the police was going to be the main player in Uganda’s stability. It meant that the army had lost the first priority status it enjoyed during the days of the war and the huge budget had to be transferred to police.

KK was happy that I had what he termed as a’’ firm grip of Uganda’s challenges’

HOW KK SURIVED CONGO

I also went on to entice him into a conversation about the war in Congo. I had written a lengthy article in The Redpepper about how he survived death in the Congo and was allegedly saved by the late Gen James Kazini.

When I mentioned that Gen Kazini had rescued him, he quickly interjected and told me that he managed to save himself. At that time Gen James Kazini had been arraigned in the court martial for embezzling millions of shillings during the Congo wars.

The late Kazini had defended himself by saying that he used the money to rescue Gen Kayihura.

But KK strongly denied kazini’s allegations and told me thaty he managed to handle the situation by himself.

At that time Uganda had gone into the Congo to allegedly flush out the ADF rebels but ended up clashing with Rwanda in Kisangani.

The situation was a bit chaotic since some local Congolese rebels like Peire Bemba And Thomas Lubanga had emerged with militia groups that were committing war crimes.

Both men have since been indicted and convicted by the ICC.  

The UPDF occupation of the Congo had spread to much of north eastern, northern and north western Congo border with Congo Brazavile, CAR and Sudan. It covered major commercial centres like Kisangani, Beni, Bunia, Mahagi, Isiro, Buta, Gemena, Bumba, Businga, Gbadolite, Lisala, Basankusu etc.

In all these areas, there had been no fighting at all save for a brief clash with the Chadian troops at Gemena. With the major focus on Congo, inside Uganda the LRA had an opportunity to strengthen itself. The NRA never interacted with ADF throughout the Congo operation. Instead, the ADF had intensified its urban terrorism in Kampala.

So KK had been deployed by president Museveni to oversee the UPDF withdraw from the jungles of the Congo to avoid the likely consequences of overstaying.

It was widely reported that while in Congo, Gen Kayihura had tried to intervene in the conflict between the Lendu and the Hema who were butchering each other.

KK ESCAPES DEATH

But Thomas Lubanga’s UPC rebels managed to capture Gen Kayihura in Beni. Lubanga himself was not there but his chief of staff called Asimwe Kisembo was charge and had thoughts of either killing or taking KK as hostage to act as bargaining chip with the UPDF.

But Kazini dispatched troops from kakiri and deployed immensely around the UPC strongholds and forced the UPC to release KK.

 When I told KK about all these developments he sighed and asked me “where did you get all this information”?

I told him that I was a Uganda’s unknown war correspondent. At that time there was a journalist called Emmy Alio who worked for The Newvision as the only other war correspondent.

Kayihura told me that used to enjoy my war stories in The Redpepper many of which he claimed were mostly fictitious.

 I also told him that he was supposed to be court matialed for risking the life of a senior officer by going to enemy territory without enough protection in the Congo. And he laughed it off.

Gen Salim Saleh had done the same when he flew in a chopper and landed in rebel territory without a single escort in 1988. Although Saleh’s brave efforts yielded a peace deal with the UPDA, he was sacked as army commander.

I also asked KK why Rwandan and Ugandan army officers like  Gen Kayumba Nymwasa ,Gen James Kazini and himself were not indicted by the ICC for the war in Congo. And he simply said that they had not engaged in war crimes.

By the time we separated, he had appreciated my knowledge about the Ugandan military.

The Second Encounter At State House

I was to meet Gen Kayihura again last year (2015) at state house Entebbe.

Entebbe state house was built in such a way that all sides of the outside and inside look the same in a rectangular shape.

You can easily get lost. But when I was moving around the confusing rooms, I bumped into Gen Kayihura. He was talking to Hon Fred Ruhindi in one of the separate rooms.

I quickly told him that there was a problem in Kampala because new villages that had no clear names had emerged. I asked him that this makes it difficult to direct the police when there is an emergency.  

He told me that it was the work of the KCCA to name or brands these new habitations and not the police.

 IMPRESSIONS ABOUT KK

My impression of kayihura on both occasions of interacting with him was that he was very receptive, willing to listen and very intellectually accommodative.

I however realized that he loves a intellectual discussion which add value. He loves new ideas and proposals which I readily delivered to him whenever we met.

That’s why he accorded me time.

I therefore take this opportunity to advise him to appear before the court because his appearance will do more good than harm for the NRM revolution.

If KK doesn’t respect court summons, like he is defiantly trying to do, he will have worked against the ideals of the NRA bush war which was premised mostly on fortification of liberties, freedoms and democracy which the UPC government had denied the people of Uganda.

Tomorrow we shall discuss Kayihura’s father John Kalekezi and his close interactions with former president Milton Obote, Paulo Muwanga, Abu Mayanja, Kirunda Kivejinja and Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser.

The author Fred Daka Kamwada is a senior journalist, researcher and a blogger. He also writes for Uganda’s major dailies. You can contact him on kamwadafred@gmail.com