{UAH} The Story Of a Retired UPDF Corporal who joined NRA in 1985, Fought Alice Lakwena, Worked alongside Paul Kagame

WOES OF A WAR VETERAN

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Category: Politics News

Published on 30 October 2013

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The Story Of a Retired UPDF Corporal who joined NRA in 1985, Fought Alice Lakwena, Worked alongside Paul Kagame and the Late Col Jet Mwebaze And Claims To Be A King of Rwanda kingdom

By Daka Fred Kamwada

Richard Karasira is a slender man of about 40 years with a demeanour of a frustrated man who saw it all(Museveni’s wars) but seems to have got nothing out of it. He joined the NRA in 1985 and experienced a large part of war action in the late 80s stretching to the nineties.

He reveals the amazing story of how he joined President Museveni‘s NRA rebel out fit in 1985 and got involved in the battles that followed those early years of President Museveni’s rule.

Karasira was a kadogo, (the name used to describe the child soldiers of that time) who participated in the liberation of Kasese town , Kilembe, Mpondwe and Mbarara from the UNLA forces.

He claims to have stayed with Rwandese President Paul kagame in Mbarara town at Kizungu (where Radio West is located at the moment) at the time when the RPF chief had just returned from the USA to take over the leadership of the then disjointed RPF rebel outfit that was fighting to overthrow the regime of President Juvenal Habyarimana in the early 90s.

Karasira also aspires to be crowned the king of Rwakijerri kingdom, which stretches around the Rwanda-Kisoro area.  He claims that the current claimant of the kingdom King Kigeli is not the rightful king but just an impostor. He now tells his story with the simplicity of someone who is narrating a folk story.

The Story

Richard Karasira claims;

I was 14 years when I joined the National Resistance Army (NRA) in December 1985. At that time, I was at Katovu Primary School when the NRA cut off western Uganda from the rest of the country that was then under the military junta of Gen Tito Okello. 

My cousin Capt. Gideon Bacandi recruited me into the rebel ranks. (Capt. Bacandi later died of AIDS in the early 90s a disease that claimed most of the NRA combatants of the time).

After undergoing a crush training program, I was incorporated in 45^th battalion which was then commanded by Lt Col Kyatuuka deputised by Capt. Muhiirwe who was later to be killed in combat action in the RPF attack of President Juvenal Habyarimana of Rwanda In the early 90s.

I personally participated in the liberation of Kasese, Kilembe, Mpondwe and Mbarara from the UNLA forces as the NRA made an onslaught on the complete liberation of the country.

After the war of liberating Kampala, I was deployed in parts of eastern and northern Uganda where Tinyefunza was the overall commander. He used to stay in Lira town as brigade commander.

He was the overall commander of the brigade that had 5 units under him.

I remember unit commanders like Capt. Goodman who was later killed at a place called Namukora in kitgum district by forces of Alice Lakwena in 1989. Lt Col Badiru Kiyingi was commanding 317 battalion stationed in kitgum.

Capt. Mafundo was deployed in kidepo as CO 45^th battalion.

Maj Gen Joram Mugume was division commander whose command post was in Moroto while Colonel Lumumba was in charge of another division.

In 1988-89, I was stationed in Kidepo National Park.  That was the period between 1988-89.

FIGHTING LAKWENA

I was part of the group that defeated forces of Alice Lakwena in September 1987 with our coy which had the likes of Capt. Siraje Sekabojja (who was later killed in the same battles with Lakwena).

The most memorable battle was the one we had with Lakwena at Rubonge barracks in Tororo district. We got information that she was in the nearby forests and would be attacking us very soon.

At that time, we used to hear that Lakwena would never attack without notifying his targets.  And we came to realize that it was very true. At times she would send a note confirming an appointment of war with us (NRA).

And indeed by 3:00pm in the afternoon, we heard gunshots towards us and we prepared to deal with the enemy.

During that fight, we killed over a hundred fighters of Alice Lakwena before she moved towards Magamaga where she was finally defeated for good. We lost about twenty soldiers of the NRA.

Those Lakwena guys were very brave because they attacked without hesitation and in huge numbers. They used to overrun our defences with sheer determination and would even physically disarm you if you were not careful.

You could see a man shooting while running after you and he would dodge a hail of bullets until he got close to you.  Sometimes they would reach  our boys who had taken cover and disarm them physically! But we still killed them like rats.

But I lost a very good friend of mine in that battle called Guduliya.  He got that name because he was a glutton who used to eat a lot of food; over 3kgs of Posho and a lot of beans. He would then shoot an LMG gun like no man’s business. He was one hell of a fighter!

But during that battle at Rubonge barracks in Tororo, Lakwena’s boys surrounded Guduliya and shot him in the face.

 I saw his skull scatter to pieces with white and red substances. He did not die immediately but died some hours later.

When the news of his death was spread around every one of us felt lost. We couldn’t believe that the guy could die that easily because he was very brave.

But we also had brave fighters like Sgt Katamba, Sgt Kisitu, Private Kabiito, and Capt. Kinene who had been recruited from Masaka. These boys killed so many Lakwena people.  It was like a game.

I remember a brown Mutooro chap called Muzungu because looked like a whiteman. He was always very jolly despite the war situation. I don’t know where he is because he also disappeared around that time. My suspicion is that he could have been  killed during those battles but I cannot confirm because I never saw his body.

We were also in the company of Lt Col Adam Wasswa another brave fighter who was in-charge of 320 battalions.  But some years later he got involved in the invasion of Rwanda in 1990 by RPF forces.

 1988-89 operation north  

I was involved in so many operations in northern Uganda like the liberation of Palabek , Namukora , Orom , Patiko , Mucwini , Madyope and the whole of kitgum in 1988-89.

In 1989, I was deployed to work at the office of the Chief of Combat, an operation that was directly under Col Jet Mwebaze who was by then the Director of Combat Operations in the whole country.

Maj Gen Joram Mugume was the chief overall of the combat operations and was seated at Lubiri barracks. We used to monitor all the war zones. At the time, there was insurgency in the north and you couldn’t tell what would happen the next day.

Each day was like a bonus because many of our colleagues got caught in ambushes or battles in cross fire with LRA.

By that time Lakwena had been replaced by Joseph Kony who was not easy because he was a coward who wouldn’t stand to fight.

He would just attack villages and kill innocent civilians. We used to just give up the chase because he would always evade combat action. That’s why he survived for a long time. 

1994 with Paul Kagame

In 1994, I used to stay in Mbarara in a place called Kizungu where Radio West is located. At that time the war in Rwanda was gaining momentum.  The RPF had been destroyed in its initial attacks of 1990 and they were now using guerrilla tactics of attacking and withdrawing.

And I used to stay with Col Jet Mwebaze who was my boss at that time but he used to hang out with the likes of Lt Col Benon Tumukunde and Maj Paul Kagame in the same house.

Col Kyakabale (now exiled in Sweden) used to visit us from time to time and would engage Benon Tumukunde and Jet Mwebaze in meetings that took long hours.  They used to call me by the names of Richard Karasira and they would send me for all sorts of stuff from the shops.  I would sometimes make tea for them. 

I remember Kagame as someone who used to take a lot of tea but not alcohol.

At that time, the war in Rwanda was going on at the same time as the peace talks in Arusha.  And when the plane carrying Rwandese president Juvenal Habyarimana was shot down in 1994, Kagame vanished from Mbarara to the frontlines.

I did not join the war in Rwanda because I was working with Jet Mwebaze who was in the Ugandan army but I would have gone if he had brought up the idea.

And when Kigali fell to RPF in April 1994, we travelled with Jet Mwebaze, Capt Rukundo (RIP) and Napoléon Rutambika (RIP). We all travelled to the Rwanda Parliament and witnessed the swearing in ceremony of Paul Kagame as Vice President.

I remember we stood right behind Kagame when he was swearing in. At that time, I never thought it was such a big deal because I never knew what it meant to be in power

But after the swearing in ceremony I retuned with Napoleon Rutambika and Jet Mwebaze-who had no clear office at the time to Uganda.

Late Col Jet Mwebaze

Col Mwebaze used to do some clandestine work but was later arrested and later released over business deals related to trading in cigarettes and coffee whose details I don’t fully understand.

He somehow remained redundant because of those problems but around that time in 1996 ADF attacked western Uganda and we were supposed to go there with Jet because he was immediately deployed to takeover over command of the anti-ADF operations.

1996 ADF Menace

When ADF became a menace in western Uganda in 1996, I was hastily deployed to Kasese under Brigadier Geoffrey Muheesi and we made operations deep in Zaire. Of course I was somehow still attached to Mwebaze but sometimes I would get sucked into operations.

I was the first soldier sent to wrestle the enemy inside Zaire. I put on civilian clothes and travelled up to Beni, which is almost a hundred miles from the Ugandan border.

I set off with Capt Kibuuka and found out that the ADF was a serious rebel outfit. They had attacked Mpondwe and kasindi.

But we mounted a counter attack and overrun their defense. We used mambas and hit them up to Beni from where they met the RPF. The Rwandese who had by that time also entered Congo also hit them mercilessly up to Bunia.

When ADF was cooled off, I returned to Kampala for most parts of 1997 and 1998 where I set up residence in Mulago. But I was still reporting to Col jet Mwebaze as well.

One day I went to his (jet mwebaze’s) home in Ntinda and he briefed me that he was going to Congo to sort out some issues.

It was around 10:00pm when he told me that he would be back soon. He gave me some little money and told me to be careful with myself. Little did I know that I would never see him alive again!

The next day I heard on the BBC radio that Col Jet had been involved in a plane crush. It was also reported that he could have been killed in the crush.

His body was brought back and we buried him in a village called Namunkeera in kapeeka district on a very rainy day.

After his death I got confused. I never got into any action from that time. I am now trying to pursue matters to do with my heritage because am the natural king of Rwanda. "I am the rightful Rwakijerri because my grandfather was the king of that kingdom,’’ he says.

I have tried to make contact with President Museveni over the matter but things have been very tough. Even the Belgians who ruled Rwanda knew my father and grandfather as the rulers of that kingdom. (Shows photos and documents to that effect)

The traditional king conundrum

Richard Karasira has got photos which depict his grandfather seated on the Rwanda kingdom throne. But some research shows that there is another claimant of that throne who is now holed up in the United Kingdom.

In August 2007, King Kigeli Ndahindurwa V was interviewed by the BBC world service and he expressed his desire to return to his throne in Rwanda.

King Kigeli Ndahindurwa V told BBC that he ruled Rwanda until his overthrow in 1959; and wanted to return home for the first time in almost five decades of exile.

Kigeli also said that he had discussed his idea with Rwanda's President Paul Kagame and he was told there would be consultation on the issue.

Kigeli Ndahindurwa was the last of a line of absolutist monarchs who unified and ruled the kingdom of Rwanda until self-rule from Belgium loomed in the late 1950s. The royal family was from the Tutsi minority - but the Belgians favoured the Hutu majority and in 1959, while King Kigeli was abroad, they organised a coup.

Tens of thousands of King Kigeli's supporters, including the entire royal family, fled the country.Rwanda was declared a republic under a Hutu president, and thousands of Tutsis were massacred.

Three more decades of instability culminated in civil war and the Rwandan genocide of 1994.The war was won by a Tutsi rebel group, whose leader Paul Kagame is now president. But Karasira now claims that throne belonged to his descendants.

It remains to be seen how far he will go in his pursuit for traditional leadership of what he sometimes refers to as the Kisoro kingdom. He is well known in UPDF circles having retired from the army in the recent retirement exercise.

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Gwokto La'Kitgum

"Even a small dog can piss on a tall Building", Jim Hightower

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