{UAH} Allan/Pojim/WBK: Who is David Happy Ngabo ‘The FDC pastor?' - Reviews & Profiles

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Who is David Happy Ngabo 'The FDC pastor?'

Pastor Happy David Ngabo has fallen out with President Museveni, a man he looked up to for so many years. PHOTO BY ABUBAKER LUBOWA 

In Summary

Pastor Happy David Ngabo was thrust into the public eye a few months ago, when the Forum for Democratic Change started its weekly prayers as part of the "Free My Vote" campaign. It is Pastor Ngabo's fiery sermons that have caught the attention of Ugandans. But as we found out, Ngabo has not always been critical.

Ever since Forum for Democratic Change started its weekly prayers as part of the "Free My Vote" campaign, a few months ago, Pastor David Happy Ngabo Tumusiime has featured prominently. 
The man of God from Makerere Deliverance Church has been leading the prayers. For those in the know, it is a big surprise that he now "dines" with the Opposition and not President Museveni, someone he once regarded as more than a parent. 
Happy Ngabo was adopted by President Museveni in 1981 when he was just four years old. Ngabo was then taken to study at Masuulita Primary School in Luwero with his two other sisters Winnie and Janet.

How it all started
Coming from the city,-at Kanjokya Street Kamwokya, the choice of Masuulita for the education of their children was rather curious. To their parents, John and Susan Tumusiime, however, it was the ideal boarding school because they had an uncle who would watch over them from there. 
Their uncle Geresom, then deputy principal, would later become captain in UPDF and an officer in charge of supplies at Mbuya Military Hospital. At Masuulita, Ngabo was denied a place in Primary One because he was too young and instead admitted to a pre-primary class. His sisters Winnie and Janet joined Primary Two and Primary Five, respectively. The trio adapted rather quickly especially knowing that their uncle was in charge at the school. 
It never occurred to them that their haven would soon turn into a battle-field and that they would not return home for the next four years. The political situation in Kampala was steadily becoming impetuous.

After the 1980 December general election, many Opposition leaders including Yoweri Museveni of Uganda Patriotic movement (UPM) were bitter with the outcome. They accused UPC leader Apollo Milton Obote of rigging. 
Museveni, who prior to election was minister of Defence had warned that he would take up arms if elections were rigged, but nobody took heed. 
To Ngabo and his sisters, this was all gibberish: Nothing they could comprehend. In fact, one month into their new school, they were excited to see a lorry of armed people in civilian attire marching through Masuulita town from Gobero through the papyrus swamps.

"They marched through the trading centre shouting and attracted every one's attention. They said they wanted people to know that Museveni was not joking when he warned of going to the bush to fight Obote," Ngabo recalls. Museveni's men later disappeared into the nearby forest. Two days later a big force of Obote's UNLF soldiers was sent to the area from Kampala.

Ngabo's fiery sermons point at injustices purportedly committed by government.

It was approaching evening when they came shooting in the air. Within minutes the whole place was engulfed in heavy shooting. "Some people abandoned their homes and fled into the bush. The headmaster of the school abruptly called for parade and told pupils to run for their lives and shortly afterwards he himself took off," says Ngabo.

The silver lining
Ngabo and his two sisters escaped to their uncle's home nearby and the following morning their uncle left promising to come for them after discovering a safe place. He never returned. Later in the day as shooting intensified, the three children held onto each other and run towards the forest. 
"It was like a miracle. On the way we met tall, dark skinned soldiers in military uniforms under cover. They asked us whether we had seen any civilians carrying guns." The trio ignored the soldiers and scurried on as the (Obote) soldiers called and promised them sweets. They later met a group of villagers who had abandoned their homes and were hiding deep into the forest. Near these groups of villagers were Museveni's fighters who were under cover and assuring them of safety. 
Ngabo recognised some people he would later know as Fred Rwigyema (deceased former RPF leader), Lt. Col. Frank Guma (RIP) and General Elly Tumwine. The three children stayed with them for three days. A prominent fighter called Kaggwa ordered them to go and stay in a small house where he would spend the nights himself.

After four days, Kaggwa went somewhere and returned in the evening to say that Mzee (Museveni ) had asked him to take the children to him. "The following day he took us to the NRM command post at Kijaguzo on a motor bike where we found Museveni seated outside a tent and listening to a radio," he shares.
Museveni lifted each one of them to his shoulder, greeted them and asked them their names, their parents and how they had got to Masuulita. "He teasingly pulled at my ears and nose and said that I was a Mwiru. He picked me up and said I would stay with him." Among the fighters that Ngabo found there are Gen Salim Saleh and Maj. Gen David Tunyefunza.

"I used to play a lot with Mzee, Saleh and Tinyefuza. They would put me on their back and at times run after me saying they wanted to train me to become a great runner. At times we would even play football," he adds. 
Meanwhile, Ngabo's sisters were staying with Saleh's wife Jovia and Dora Kuteesa, wife of Col Pecos Kuteesa. Captain Olive Zizinga used to prepare food for the children and she would also wash them. Museveni had ordered that his "son" be given milk even if there was a shortage. Because Museveni cared for them so much, some fighters suspected the children were his.

Life in the bush
Months went by and the group which had swelled up in number shifted to Kapeeka- Semuto to escape advancing Obote forces. They would spend a week or two in one place before heading to Ngoma where they stayed for about six months. Ngabo also remembers the day when the rebels attacked Kabamba Barracks. "We were left at a distance in the home of a certain woman. Those in our company included Grace Kijanangoma and Lt Mbabazi. It was a difficult situation. Sometimes we used to cross rivers and during rainy season we would develop a skin disease called "Obuhere," he recalls.

Years went by and the children continued to enjoy Museveni's hospitality. 
Around 1985, however, with the war intensifying, it was decided that they be taken back to Kampala. "Mzee ordered Matayo Kyaligonza and Moses Kigongo to organise our trip. We did not want to go back and besides after four years I couldn't tell how my parents looked like because I truly regarded Mzee was my father," Ngabo said.

Back home
They were entrusted in the hands of one fighter, John 'Airforce" Aziz who took them to a place commanded by Brig Chefe Ali and Reuben Ikondere near Lake Wamala. They spent the night there. The following day Chefe Ali put them on a bus and after a long journey only realised they were about to reach home when they got to Wandegeya.
In spite of earlier reluctance, they were excited to get home. "We found mum seated on a verandah at our Kamwokya home. She glanced at us from a distance, let out a loud scream and then broke out in both laughter and tears. She couldn't believe we were alive and said that the family had presumed we were dead." Their father and family members joined the party. Attempts were made to take Ngabo back to school. He was turned down at Peter Piper Nursery school (at Lohana academy) because he looked over-grown for Primary One. He was eventually accepted at City Primary School.

After the NRM took power in 1986, it was a while before they got an opportunity to meet Museveni. In 1987, Ngabo and his sisters bumped into Gen Salim Saleh. "He was so excited and took us to his Kampala home where we met his wife Jovia. We ate a lot of food and then (Saleh) drove us back home in the evening and promised to help us meet the president."

Reunion with Mzee
Ngabo and his sisters later met Maj. Gen Fred Rwigyema (RIP) at Kisementi and he told them that Mzee had asked about them. Rwigyema later took them to his Kololo home and phoned the late Col Sserwanga Lwanga to organise a meeting with the president. Two days later, Rwigyema took the three children to his home where they spent the night and the following day taken to State House Entebbe.
"We were warmly welcomed. We found Mzee seated near the swimming pool. On seeing us he began laughing, greeted and lifted us up. He said we had grown big. He pulled my ears and reminded me of those bush days."

Rwigyema went back to Kampala and left the children at State House. The President introduced them to the First Lady and their children. The president even invited them to return for other holidays. It was Ngabo that stayed with the first family the following holiday for a month. That was in 1989. Since then however, a lot seems to have happened and changed. 
The man who once looked to President Museveni as a father figure has become one of the lead critics of the establishment.

editorial@ug.nationmedia.com

Who is David Happy Ngabo 'The FDC pastor?' - Reviews & Profiles

http://www.monitor.co.ug/artsculture/Reviews/Who-is-David-Happy-Ngabo--The-FDC-pastor--/-/691232/3189200/-/hejbiuz/-/index.html

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