{UAH} Mission accomplished: UPDF’s journey home

After greeting them, Pte Nyarot and the eight UPDF soldiers engage in a debate on the political future of South Sudan. 

One Lieutenant tells Nyarot: "We are leaving, but be united, and our wish for South Sudanese is to put your country first, not tribes. We lost our brothers here for you to get peace. It would be painful to see violence again in South Sudan." 

In response, Nyarot responds: "I can relate our situation to a hyena that comes stealthily at night and steals goats. If you don't secure the goats, the hyenas will always come at night and kill them. If the top leadership does not put in place measure to solve the problems facing South Sudan, violence will resume." 

He says the ultimate choice to end violence lies with the South Sudanese. "It is us, the South Sudanese to end the violence. We are killing ourselves and it is up to us to end the killings," Nyarot adds. 

All the UPDF soldiers agree with him. But some look shocked to hear such a "brilliant" analogy from Nyarot. 

Another Lieutenant asks Nyarot where he comes from and where he attended school. He tells them he studied from Uganda from Seniour one to Seniour Six.

The Lieutenant tells his colleagues in Luganda: "Kyeko kyaba ategela ebintu bulungi" [That is why his understanding is different]. 

Nyarot shakes hands with all the officers and leaves to join his South Sudanese colleagues, who are standing a few meters away.

Asked why they think Nyarot's thinking was different from his other colleagues,' one captain says: "Everything here is seen through a tribal lens. It is rare to find someone like him who thinks violence is a national problem without blaming another tribe."

As the debate comes to an end, nine trucks, which the soldiers were waiting for, arrive from Uganda, and the soldiers start loading their belongings.

The convoy sets off from Nesitu at midday for the more than 370km journey to Uganda. 

Along the way, children at trading centres wave at the withdrawing soldiers and many look mesmerised by the sophisticated weapons, which probably they are seeing for the first time.

The convoy stops for a few minutes and the Ugandans vending grilled chicken and grasshoppers as boda boda riders, shopkeepers swarm the convoy to greet the withdrawing soldiers.

One woman shouts in Luganda: "Olutalo bwe luddamu Museveni ajja tukima" [If fighting breaks out, Museveni will rescue us].

http://mobile.monitor.co.ug/specialreports/Mission-accomplished-UPDF-s-journey-home/-/2470144/2964646/-/format/xhtml/-/3qh9e3z/-/index.html

Sincerely,

Brian M. Kwesiga