http://www.observer.ug/special-editions/40841-a-gruelling-night-journey-up-muhavura-mountain

A gruelling night journey up Muhavura mountain

Written by JUSTUS MUHANGUZI

RPF soldiers driving the APC they had captured from Habyarimana's troops

To mark 25 years since Ugandan soldiers of Rwandan descent attacked Rwanda, former New Vision journalist JUSTUS MUHANGUZI relives a war that changed the region.
The routine monitoring missions by the Rwandan military team and the occasional shelling of Uganda's border villages created more problems for President Habyarimana.

While his war planners focused on managing and containing the RPA threat by turning Ugandan border districts into the battle grounds, they shifted attention from their backyard, leaving key military and government installations vulnerable to RPA attacks.

Unknown to Kigali, the RPA intelligence machinery carried out reconnaissance missions inside Rwanda and identified their targets without being detected.

On January 23, 1991, RPA attacked the town of Ruhengeri, their first major raid since resorting to guerrilla war. This attack put Kigali in an awkward position regarding its claims that the RPA had been completely routed out of Rwanda and were operating from bases inside Uganda.

Ruhengeri lies in the northwest of Rwanda, 23 kilometres from the Ugandan border town of Kyanika in Kisoro.

At the time of the attack, Ruhengeri had the biggest maximum security prison facility (similar to Uganda's Luzira), where top military and political prisoners were incarcerated. They included most of Col Alex Kanyarengwe's co-plotters of the coup attempt against President Habyarimana.

Although it was never stated officially, Col Kanyarengwe is believed to have masterminded the Ruhengeri attack since it happened immediately after he crossed from Tanzania to join the RPF/A, where he subsequently became the president/chairman of the Tutsi-dominated organisation.

"Apart from demystifying the notion that our organization was a tribal outfit fighting to overthrow a legitimate government in Rwanda, we very well knew that Col Alex Kanyarengwe had a lot of potential to breathe another 'lease of life' into our organization. It was not by mistake that we brought him on board," the then RPA spokesman, Maj Wilson Rutayisire, told me days after the attack.

His revelations were corroborated in a separate interview I had with another senior RPA commander. He said: "It is Ndugu Alex [Kanyarengwe] who impressed it upon us and pointed out how important it was to raid the prison and free these detainees who would become military and political assets to the RPA. He assured us that they would not hesitate to join our ranks if they got to know he was with us".

Indeed, the Ruhengeri mission boosted RPA's numbers with the many political and military detainees freed. But it was four of these – Kanyarengwe's comrades – that would become particularly important to the RPA.

These "four big fish" were Maj Theoniste Lizinde, Commandant Tibandeeba, Capt Muvunanyambo and commandant Ruseruka. Like Kanyarengwe, they were all Hutu but hailing from southern Rwanda.

They had felt marginalized compared to the northern group that were getting preferential treatment after the formation of the political clique known as Akazu, superintended over by Habyarimana's iron-fisted wife.

The Ruhengeri attack and the subsequent recruitment of senior Hutu military and political leaders drastically boosted the RPA fortunes and provided an impetus for the rebels to start recovering lost ground.

Indeed, the Ruhengeri attack became a precursor for many other similar RPA raids into the area and it was not long before the town was deserted by both civilians and Rwandan troops.

The renewed fighting in Rwanda triggered off another influx of refugees into Uganda. On top of Ugandans displaced by the Rwandan shelling and raids, Kisoro district authorities now had to shelter Rwandan nationals who were pouring in from across the border.

When I visited, two days after the Ruhengeri attack, Nyakabande airstrip near Kisoro town was overcrowded, with both Ugandan IDPs and Rwandans who reported that they were running away from being killed after they were accused of being RPA sympathizers.

Besides the coincidental refugee influx story, my trip to Kisoro that day was specially arranged to take me to the Mt Muhavura forest to meet the former Ruhengeri prison detainees.

I was told by my RPA contact, the late Major Rutayisire, that we would travel at night for fear of being detected by the Rwandan troops who were now patrolling the border on a twenty-four-hour schedule.

Like previous visits, I booked myself and my driver into the then popular Travellers hotel, owned by Dr Philemon Mateke (a former Obote II minister who is now state minister for regional cooperation).

I then contacted the NRA battalion commander, Major Godfrey Simbwa and the then district internal security officer, Gordon Ntungwerisho, to not only make my visit known but also to request their assistance (military escort) and clearance.

Unknown to me, the same tip and appointment had been given separately to some other journalists with whom I would later travel. It was at the last hour that I noticed the presence of Cathy Watson, then working for BBC, and NRA's Kale Kayihura (now inspector general of police), both of whom had travelled from Kampala specifically for that mission.

It was the battle-hardened Major Simbwa who offered to drive us in his 'rickety' Land Rover up the rocky, steep Muhavura ranges. We spent about two hours 'rocking' in the vehicle and by the time we reached the end of the track, our jaws and joints were aching from the continuous banging of our heads on the roof of the vehicle.

But we were not done yet. When we started crawling, we realized that Major Simbwa's rickety Land Rover had been a better proposition. I personally realized that I had not expected this challenge especially climbing the rocky and steep track.

Although we had been cautioned by the two RPA guides to prepare ourselves for a host of eventualities, including attacks by either the Rwandan troops or wild animals from Mgahinga national park, none of us expected that keeping our feet on the ground even with the help of walking sticks would be that tricky.

By the time we reached our destination in the Bamboo forest part of the mountain, my limbs were almost stiff and numb from both the cold and the steep strides.

Our only relief came when we suddenly met the four detainees who seemed to have endured a similar or worse experience. They clutched at walking sticks and wore heavy clothing.

The interview took us about an hour as we talked through an interpreter with Maj Lizinde (who seemed to be the leader of the group) speaking in French on behalf of his colleagues.

He talked about many issues, ranging from the cause of their disagreement with President Habyarimana, their detention and future plans. At one point during the interview, Kale Kayihura interjected and asked Cathy Watson to rephrase her question to Maj Lizinde. Although I don't recall the exact words, the question that Kayihura found offensive was about the "RPA bases in Uganda".

We finished around 2:30am. By then, I was freezing to the marrow. I realized that my jaws had started to ache due to the uncontrollable clattering.

As we started our journey back, we all realized that our problems were far from over. It emerged that sloping down a mountain is more challenging than climbing it.

By the time we reached our vehicle, we were all sleepwalking and for once, the ride in Maj Simbwa's 'rickety' vehicle seemed comfortable compared to the climbing and sloping.

muhanguzijust@yahoo.com
0772 504 920
The author is a public relations practitioner and is writing a book on the Rwanda invasion.