{UAH} Pojim/WBK: George Kanyeihamba's side of the Moshi Conference! Deliberately distorting history or ignorance?
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Deliberately distorting history or ignorance?
The interest was aroused by the distortion of what happened at the Moshi conference supported by the Tanzanian government and Ugandan exiles. Fortunately, many of us who originated, controlled or resolved political matters that shaped events both before and after the fall of Idi Amin's regime of 1971-1979 are still alive.
We remember what happened and who was who in that period of our history. Some of us actively participated in the decision-making processes of that era. Many of us have written and published materials on the period and disagree with some of the observations advanced by Dr Senabulya and Mr Kayongo.
One needs to read Prof Abdul Kasozi's book, The cause of violence in Uganda, to understand the events of the Moshi conference in Tanzania. My own contribution in my book Constitutional and Political History of Uganda From 1894 to the Present, should not be ignored.
More so, chapters titled, Age of Militarism in Uganda, Power Rides Naked through Uganda Under the Muzzle of the Gun, The National Resistance Movement in the Bush and Drama at Mwanza will surely help one to understand events differently.
I personally attended and actively participated in all the meetings and decision-making fora both prior and after the Moshi Unity Conference. Mr Kayongo and Dr Senabulya attended some but not all meetings relating to the events they describe.
I recall many Ugandans who were invited to Nairobi under different missions but all aimed at discussing what to do about the Amin regime. The first joint meeting of Uganda exiles from Europe, the USA and East Africa was initially held in Nairobi. Many of us had been invited to attend the wedding of Stephen Tindikyebwa.
He was then one of the wealthy Ugandans in exile and was able to facilitate the travel and stay in Nairobi of many of us. We planned the overthrow of the Idi Amin regime. This was in the night and morning of December 31, 1978, and January 1, 1979.
A few days later, we met with other Uganda exiles, mostly in Kenya and from Tanzania, in the business office of Israel Kayongo, who also attended that meeting. Within less than an hour, that meeting was aborted because of the rumour that the Kenyan security forces were about to raid it, arrest and hand us to Uganda government authorities.
Personally, that was the last time I saw or noticed Israel in any meeting of Ugandan exiles. The rumour turned out false, having been started and spread by people who did not welcome the unity of all opposition groups who wished to oust the Amin regime from power or who had different agendas.
Later, we were invited and assembled in the residence of Prof Tarsis Kabwegyere, then a temporal visiting professor at Nairobi University but genuinely in exile from the Amin brutality.
As our host, he was elected chairman of the steering committee we set up to head and guide all the decisions of exiles and other Ugandans desirous of overthrowing the Idi Amin regime.
The committee we formed in Kabwegyere's residence included the likes of Drs Yash Tandon, Andrew Kayiira, this writer and Omwony Ojwok. The committee became the vital planner and link between all the anti-Amin groups and the Tanzanian government of Mwalimu Julius Nyerere and its then foreign minister, Benjamin Mpaka.
Without the courageous contribution of these two great Tanzanian leaders, the Moshi conference would not have taken place or succeeded in its objectives. The Idi Amin terrorist regime would have lasted much longer than anyone wanted.
While I invite everyone to read the literature referred to earlier, the following in Kayongo's narrative must be corrected. It was not Tarsis Kabwegyere who called for the nomination of candidates for the chairmanship of the UNLF but the late Semei Nyanzi.
In a surprise move, members of the steering committee convinced the delegates to vote Kabwegyere out of the chair and replace him with Semei Nyanzi. Kabwegyere had been slow in realizing that the UPC delegation was maneuvering and posturing to frustrate the deliberations. We stopped them and Nyanzi turned out to be an excellent and effective chairman.
There had been exchanges between exiles that Yusuf Lule should become the chairman of the UNLF by acclamation and Nyerere had agreed to the choice.
When Nyanzi called for nominations, Bishop Zacchaeus Okoth literally jumped up within seconds of the chairman's call and nominated Paulo Muwanga.
Most delegates were taken by surprise by this nomination. The late Sam Sebagereka, a member of the Uganda Group for Human Rights, almost in tears, criticized the bishop for nominating an ardent Oboteist who was a liar, a thief and a dishonest rogue. In mid-protests, I whispered to Sebagereka to nominate Yusuf Lule, which he did.
Kayongo narrates that there was a choice between the two candidates. That is incorrect. Nyanzi's skills and experience made him realize that if we were divided over the two candidates, the Tanzanian government and people would conclude that we were not serious about our agreed objective.
Therefore, Nyanzi quickly called for adjournment and directed that consultations be held to ensure that only one candidate was nominated. That is how Lule came to be elected unopposed.
It is true that had there been an election, Muwanga would have received very few votes, mainly of the UPC delegation. However, in nominating Muwanga, the UPC strategists knew that Muwanga would not win but they were aiming at another post which later turned out to be the most crucial in the overthrow of the short-lived administration of Yusuf Lule.
The UPC had all along wanted to head the military commission of the UNLF. They knew its future role in the event of a struggle for power in the liberation movement.
Most of the delegates were ignorant of the importance of the military commission. It eventually overthrew the UNLF leadership and handed political power back to the former president, Dr Milton Obote.
In passing, it can be contritely said that many of the events which took place at Mwanza town and elsewhere following the overthrow of both Lule and Godfrey Binaisa as presidents were in many aspects inaccurately reported by Kayongo and Dr Senabulya.
Anyone interested in knowing the true facts is advised to peruse, internalise and compare and contrast Kayongo's recall of events with other publications' narrations and reports of others.
The author is a retired Supreme court judge.
http://www.observer.ug/viewpoint/37719-deliberately-distorting-history-or-ignorance
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