{UAH} How Besigye Entebbe raid was planned-this is how goons from a failed state kidnap their own citizens
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How Besigye Entebbe raid was planned
Written by EDRIS KIGGUNDU & JOHNSON TAREMWAPolice initially plotted to use a chopper to fly him from the airport before opting for a Civil Aviation Authority vehicle
The plan to snatch the opposition leader at Entebbe airport tarmac was hatched in a heated meeting of top security officers on Saturday, write EDRIS KIGGUNDU & JOHNSON TAREMWA
On Saturday evening, senior security officers gathered in one of the conference rooms at the police headquarters in Naguru. At the tip of the table was the inspector general of police, Gen Kale Kayihura, surrounded by heads of various departments and directorates in the police, Internal Security Organisation, UPDF and aviation police.
The main agenda: How to contain Dr Kizza Besigye and his supporters upon his return to the country on Monday, October 3. Informed police sources told The Observer yesterday that the meeting that lasted several hours was at times tense and heated.
There was a clash of proposals between police and other security agencies. They discussed how much money was needed for the operation and disagreements were sharp on the best strategies to keep Besigye and his supporters at bay.
From the outset, security chiefs made it clear that there must not be a repeat of the 2011 scenario when Besigye's return from Nairobi turned chaotic and overshadowed President Museveni's swearing-in at Kololo.
According to our sources, posters bearing photographs of Dr Besigye with the inscription "welcome back Your Excellency" were tabled as evidence that the stakes were high. Besigye supporters, security officers said, had spent days organizing a big welcome party that could paralyse Entebbe and Kampala. To avoid the 2011 scenario, the security chiefs came up with a number of proposals.
First, the police said they could deploy heavily and let Besigye use Entebbe road up to Zzana roundabout, where he would be diverted through Nyanama. The fear was not to let him drive up to Najjanankumbi where hordes of his supporters would be waiting at the FDC headquarters, raising a possibility of clashes with police.
This strategy was however opposed by some intelligence gurus who pointed out that it was risky to let Besigye drive up to Zzana as his supporters might surge and become unstoppable by the time they reach that point. Moreover, to secure the 42km stretch from Entebbe to Zzana would require deployment of hundreds of security personnel.
In the end the meeting agreed that Besigye should not leave the tarmac at Entebbe airport unaccompanied by the police. Even with this position there were some details to be worked out.
Some officers suggested that a police helicopter be used to fly Besigye from the airport to a point in Kampala, where he would be driven to Kasangati. This was rejected for unclear reasons.
It was suggested that the familiar police van be used to whisk him away from the airport, but sources said this became tricky because it would be easily identified by people having been used in such operations very often. Intelligence officers then settled for an ordinary vehicle that couldn't be easily identified.
They also mapped out an alternative route to the main Entebbe road. Sources told us that they agreed that from the tarmac, Besigye would be transported in a Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) vehicle using the back roads around the airport.
Then at Namulanda, about 18km from the airport, he would be transferred to a police Land Cruiser. Complete with a police clearance car and four patrol pick-up trucks, Besigye would then be driven along the under-construction Entebbe Expressway, Kasanje, Nakawuka, Nateete, and join the Northern bypass at Busega round-about.
From here, he would be driven to his home in Kasangati through-Ntinda-Kisaasi-Kyanja-Gayaza road. To a bystander, it would appear like it was Kayihura or another senior police officer being transported.
LIMITING THE MEDIA
In the Saturday meeting, the security officers also discussed strategies of limiting media coverage of Besigye's arrival, fearing that if there is any confrontation at the airport and it is captured, it could cause international outrage.
It was therefore agreed that journalists should not go beyond Kitooro trading centre, which is about 3km from the airport. Andrew Felix Kaweesi, the police spokesman, was tasked to communicate this decision to the journalists and media houses.
Early on Monday, a roadblock was mounted at Kitooro, where cars and people were searched to ensure that no journalists or video equipment makes its way to the airport. All vehicles belonging to media houses were stopped here.
The entire strategy went as planned with Besigye being snatched as he disembarked from Kenya Airways. He told reporters at Kasangati later in the day, that his passport wasn't stamped to show he had returned to Uganda. His luggage was delivered by the airline to his house.
newseditor@observer.ug
Comments
KB itches museveni the wrong way and in the wrong parts, whether he does anything or even remains silent.
Besigye is my hero-yes-How i wish he reclaimed the FDC presidency from the docile, inconsequential muntu
you are right; these things should not be reported at all.
You see , Mama is getting on..... when I read and kukaputad this article to her this morning , she took a deep breath and said like this : can`t they let the man rest in peace after the killed him ? . They are sitting and planning how to attack him and then come to lie to us again?
It took me five minutes to figure out what was going on in Mama `s head .
So I told her: no no no Mama , this is about another Dr. called Besigye not Dr. Kayiira.
Mama shrugged off my point of info : aush,, same thing !! it usually starts with a meeting by a group of uniformed assasins .... they may plot to abduct but can end up killing . and then cover up.
So mukwasi , I agree that we should go back and talk about more important national issues like the KCCA party . Why was it sooooo cheap ?
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